There are seven important elements Goffman identifies with respect to the performance:[10]
Belief in the part that one is playing: Belief is important, even if it cannot be judged by others; the audience can only try to guess whether the performer is sincere or cynical.
The front (or "mask"): a standardized, generalizable, and transferable technique for the performer to control the manner in which the audience perceives them. People put on different masks throughout their lives.
Dramatic realization: a portrayal of aspects of the performer that they want the audience to know. When the performer wants to stress something, they will carry on the dramatic realization, e.g. showing how accomplished one is when going on a date to make a good first impression.
Idealization: a performance often presents an idealized[dubious – discuss] view of the situation to avoid confusion (misrepresentation) and strengthen other elements (e.g., fronts, dramatic realization). Audiences often have an 'idea' of what a given situation (performance) should look like, and performers will try to carry out the performance according to that idea.
Maintenance of expressive control: the need to stay 'in character'. The performance has to make sure that they send out the correct signals, as well as silencing the occasional compulsion to convey misleading ones that might detract from the performance.
Misrepresentation: the danger of conveying a wrong message. The audience tends to think of a performance as genuine or false, and performers generally wish to avoid having an audience disbelieve them (whether they are being truly genuine or not).
Mystification: the concealment of certain information from the audience, whether to increase the audience's interest in the user or to avoid divulging information which could be damaging to the performer.
Stages[edit]
Stages or regions refer to the three distinct areas where different individuals with different roles and information can be found. There are three stages: front, back, and outside.[10][12]
Front stage[edit]
Within society, individuals are expected to present themselves in a certain way; however, when a person goes against the norm, society tends to notice. Therefore, individuals are expected to put on a costume and act differently when in front of the 'audience'. Goffman noticed this habit of society and developed the idea of front stage.
In his book The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, Goffman defines front as "that part of the individual's performance which regularly functions in a general and fixed fashion we define the situation[verification needed] for those who observe the performance. Front, then, is the expressive equipment of a standard kind intentionally or unwittingly employed by the individual during his performance."[13][14]: 486
During the front stage, the actor formally performs and adheres to conventions that have meaning to the audience.[14] It is a part of the dramaturgical performance that is consistent and contains generalized ways to explain the situation or role the actor is playing to the audience that observes it. The actor knows that they are being watched and acts accordingly.[14]
Goffman explains that the front stage involves a differentiation between setting and personal front, two concepts that are necessary for the actor to have a successful performance. Setting is the scene that must be present in order for the actor to perform; if it is gone, the actor cannot perform.[15] Personal front consists of items or equipment needed in order to perform. These items are usually identifiable by the audience as a constant representation of the performance and actor.[16] The personal front is divided into two different aspects:[3]
appearance, which refers to the items of the personal front that are a reflection of the actor's social status; and[17]
manners, which refers to the way an actor conducts themselves. The actor's manner tells the audience what to expect from their performance.[18]
Back stage[edit]
In The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, Goffman explains that the back stage is where "the performer can relax; he can drop his front, forgo speaking in his lines, and step out of character."[13][14]: 488 [19] When the individual returns to the back stage, they feel a sense of relief knowing the actions that would not be condoned in the front stage are free to be expressed. In the backstage, actions are not to please anyone but the self. Back stage is where performers are present but audience is not, hence the performers can step out of character without fear of disrupting the performance.[20] It is where various kinds of informal actions, or facts suppressed in the front stage, may appear. Simply put, the back stage is completely separate from the front stage, and it is where the performance of a routine is prepared.[9] No members of the audience may appear in the back, and the actor takes many methods to ensure this.
Back region is a relative term, in that it exists only in regards to a specific audience: where two or more people are present, there will almost never be a true 'back region'.
Off-stage[edit]
Outside, or off-stage, is the place where individuals who are outsiders are not involved in the performance (although they may not be aware of it). The off-stage is where individual actors meet the audience members independently of the team performance on the front stage. Specific performances may be given when the audience is segmented as such.[14][21]
Borders/regions[edit]
Borders, or boundaries, are important as they prevent or restrict movement of individuals between various regions. Performers need to be able to maneuver boundaries to manage who has the access to the performance, when and how.[22] The border phenomenon is highlighted by Victor Turner's concept of liminality, and thus prolonged in the imaginable field: semiotics of ritual.
The management of thresholds may be operated on several axes; the most crude is exclusion-inclusion, similar to the basic digital on-off (1 – 0). To be a part or not may be seen as the fundamental asset in a society, but as far society is perceived as a rhizomatic conglomerate, rather such than a unitary or arborescent whole. Border-control, so to speak, becomes in a paradoxical fashion the central issue. Thus the study of liminality in sociology, ritual and theatre reveals the fictional elements underpinning society. Rites of passage seem to reflect this as the enactments of exclusion, and dissociation seem to be an essential feature of such. The enactment of exclusion from a society seem to be essential for the formation of an imaginary central governing (cf. Michel Foucault).
Discrepant roles[edit]
Many performances need to prevent the audience from getting some information (secrets). For that, several specialized roles are created.
Secrets[edit]
There are different types of secrets that have to be concealed for various reasons:[10]
Dark secrets: represent information about the performing team which could contradict the image the team is presenting to the audience.
Strategic secrets: represent the team's goals, capabilities and know-hows which allows the team to control the audience and lead it in the direction the team desires.
Inside secrets: represent information known by the team and are seen as something that is shared only with other teammates to increase team bonding.
Entrusted secrets: secrets have to be kept in order to maintain the role and team integrity; keeping them demonstrates trustworthiness.
Free secrets: the secrets of another, unrelated to oneself, that can be disclosed while still maintaining the role. Disclosure of such secrets should not affect the performance.
Roles[edit]
There are three basic roles in Goffman's scheme, each centered on who has access to what information: performers are most knowledgeable; audiences know only what the performers disclosed and what they have observed themselves; and outsiders have little if any relevant information.[10]
These roles can be divided into three groups:[10]
Roles dealing with manipulation information and team borders:
The informer: a pretender to the role of a team member who gains teams trust, is allowed backstage, but then joins the audience and discloses information on the performance. Example: spies, traitors.
The shill: this role is an opposite of the informer; the shill pretends to be a member of the audience but is a member of the performing team. His role is to manipulate the audience reactions.
The spotter: a member of the audience who has much information about the performance in general. The spotter analyzes the performers and may reveal information to the audience. Example: food critic in a restaurant.
Roles dealing with facilitating interactions between two other teams:
The go-between or mediator: usually acts with the permission of both sides, acting as a mediator and/or messenger, facilitating communication between various teams. Go-between learn many secrets, and may not be neutral.
Roles that mix front and back region up:
The non-person: individuals who are present during the performance, may even be allowed in the back stage but are not part of the 'show'. Their role is usually obvious and thus they are usually ignored by the performers and the audience. Example: a waiter, cleaning lady.
The service specialist: individuals whose specialized services are required, usually by the performers. They are often invited by the performers to the back region. Example: hairdresser, plumbers, bankers with tax knowledge.
"The colleague: individuals who are similar to the performers but are not members of the team in question. Example: coworkers.
The confidant: individuals to whom the performer reveals details of the performance.
Communication out of character[edit]
Performers may communicate out of character on purpose, in order to signal to others on their team, or by accident.
Common backstage out-of-character communications include:[10]
Treatment of the absent: derogatory discussion of the absent audience or performers affecting team cohesion.
Staging talk: discussion of technical aspects of the performance, gossip.
Common frontstage communications out of character include:[10]
Team collusion: between team members, during the performance but not endangering it. Example: staging cues, kicking a friend under a table.
Realigning actions: between members of opposing teams. For example: unofficial grumbling.
Impression management[edit]
Impression management refers to work on maintaining the desired impression, and is composed of defensive and protective techniques. Protective techniques are used in order to cover mistakes, only once the interaction begins. For example, relying on audience to use tact and overlook mistakes of the performers. In contrast, defensive techniques are employed before an interaction begins, and involves:[10]
Dramaturgical loyalty: work to keep the team members loyal to the team members and to the performance itself.
Dramaturgical discipline: dedicating oneself to the performance but without losing oneself in it. Self-control, making sure one can play the part properly, rehearsal.
Dramaturgical circumspection: minimizing risk by preparing for expected problems. Being careful to avoid situations where a mistake or a potential problem can occur, choosing the right audience, length and venue of performance.
Criticism[edit]
Believing that theories should not be applied where they have not been tested, it has been argued that dramaturgy should only be applied in instances that involve people associated with a total institution, for which the theory was designed.[23][page needed]
In addition to this, it also has been said that dramaturgy does not contribute to sociology's goal of understanding the legitimacy of society. It is claimed to be drafting on positivism, which does not offer an interest in both reason and rationality. John Welsh called it a "commodity."[24][page needed]
Application[edit]
Research on dramaturgy is best done through fieldwork such as participant observation.
For one, dramaturgy has been used to depict how social movements communicate power. Robert D. Benford and Scott A. Hunt argued that "social movements can be described as dramas in which protagonists and antagonists compete to affect audiences' interpretations of power relations in a variety of domains."[25] The people seeking power present their front stage self in order to captivate attention. However, the back stage self is still present, though undetectable. This is a competition of power, a prime example of dramaturgy.
A useful, and everyday way of understanding dramaturgy (specifically front stage and back stage) is to think of a waiter or waitress at a restaurant. The main avenue of concern for the waiter is "customer service." Even if a customer is rude, one is expected to be polite ("the customer is always right") as part of their job responsibilities. They speak differently when going out to the break room: they may complain, mimic and discuss with their fellow peers how irritating and rude the customer is. In this example, the waiter acts a certain way when dealing with customers and acts a completely different way when with her/his fellow employees.
Dramaturgy has also been applied to the emerging interdisciplinary domain of scholarly research known as technoself studies, which deals with human identity in a technological society.
In terms of social media profiles, users and their followers share a social space online. Social media users create profiles and post things that are specifically curated to portray a certain image that they want their followers to see. Often times this curated image is a facade. This is an “authoritative performance” of ones lifestyle.[25] A dynamic is created between the user and their followers where the user is in control of how and what represents them, while the followers are spectators to this presentation of the user's self but they themselves are also presenting themselves in the same way.
Dramaturgy can also be applied to all aspects of theatre performers.