Presentation of Self in Everyday Life Essay Example for Free

Presentation of Self in Everyday Life EssayA Canadian-American sociologist/writer named Erving Goff macrocosm, proposed the dramaturgical perspective or the theory of dramaturgy in his disc The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, in order to explain the behavior of people. The book catered the interest of many readers as it was published initially in 1956. Not only mentioning the successful integration of the dramaturgical approach as a major contribution in Sociology, Goffman, was also criticized for the detr workion of such authentic-written style of research he used as compared to the conventional researches that was used by many researchers and proponents of rough theories. Goffman, as a competent and keen observant, combined different theories related to support and create his new theory of dramaturgy (Sannicolas, 1997). Moreover, the focus of this paper then, is to converse the relevance of dramaturgy in everyday scenario of a mans real life. Body Dramaturgy is a te rm popularized by sociologist, Erving Goffman, pertaining to the study of mechanisms of mans social interactions by means of communication and face-to face encounters.Dramaturgy emphasizes the creation or projection of roles attempting to be congruent and accepted in the norms of smart set where a particular man or actor belongs in order to avoid ostracism and harmful discrimination of the majority group at their backs (an precedent of backstage behavior). It also functions for man to rehearse and practice ones ideal goals for the purpose of portraying those roles into the stage or real world (frontstage behavior), and to be viewed by perceived viewers or onlookers (audience).The dramaturgy or dramaturgical perspective can be best understood by showing an employment in some personal and professional situations. For instance, in a particular scenario, a play, an act or a drama occurs perhaps, a person encountering an knowledge or friend, may be forced in the situation to greet th e person coming nearby and may therefore reveal a simulated or a fake smile in order for the other person not to think negatively about the person who is expected to greet.The sustain person on the other hand, would and might as well return the greetings back because of the perceived rightness of the act as implied by the social norms and fair-mindedness rules. Moreover, these two different persons may perform and engage in a talk and communicate through non-verbal gestures and of course, verbal language these persons then, may use or show a facial mask or a facade we call in psychology, the persona.In a professional situation however, a good example may be the HR interviewer and the applicant (interviewee) both would have to perform their assigned and implied roles as for the HR interviewer, has to appear intimidating, serious, and straightforward with little smiles, and for the applicants part, one has to act as the confident but not so arrogant and aggressive projected image to impress the interviewer and has to act that one knows what one is doing and the position applying for (Sannicolas, 1997). ConclusionFurther, it is concluded that the theory of dramaturgy explains the tendency of people to project rehearsed roles for the purpose of perfecting their interpersonal social skills. Sincere or not, obsequious or assertive, mans mechanism is explained as such dominated by those internal ideal roles that is projected and performed outwards by persons in social situations (Sannicolas, 1997). References Sannicolas, N. (1997). Erving Goffman, dramaturgy, and on-line relationships. Retrieved October 31, 2008, from, http//www. dinicola. it/sit/Cybersoc%20Issue%201%20-%20Erving%20Goffman,Dramaturgy,and%20On-Line%20Relationships. htm