The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, published in 1956, introduced the dramaturgical analysis that remains a cornerstone of sociological thought. Through this framework, Erving Goffman examined human behavior as a series of performances, fundamentally altering how researchers study face-to-face interaction and the social construction of identity in diverse institutional and public environments.
Academic Formation
Born in 1922 in Mannville, Canada, Goffman pursued his higher education at the University of Manitoba, the University of Toronto, and the University of Chicago. He received his MA in 1949 and his PhD in 1953. His doctoral dissertation, Communication Conduct in an Island Community, was based on extensive ethnographic fieldwork conducted on the island of Unst in the Shetland Islands between 1949 and 1951.
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Goffman served as an assistant to the athletic director at the National Institute for Mental Health in Bethesda from 1954 to 1957. This experience prompted his investigation into total institutions and mental illness, culminating in the 1961 publication Asylums. His professional trajectory included faculty positions at the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Pennsylvania, where he held the Benjamin Franklin Chair in Sociology and Anthropology.
Professional Contributions
Throughout his career, Goffman explored the sociology of everyday life, framing, and symbolic interaction. He published seminal works including Stigma in 1963, Interaction Ritual in 1967, Frame Analysis in 1974, and Forms of Talk in 1981. In 1982, he served as the president of the American Sociological Association, a position he held until his death later that year in Philadelphia.
Fast facts
- Born: 1922, Mannville
- Died: 1982, Philadelphia
- Citizenship: Canada and United States
- Education: University of Chicago, University of Toronto, University of Manitoba
- Notable work: The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life
- Positions held: President, American Sociological Association (1982)
- Memberships: American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- Burial site: Mount Lebanon Cemetery
Questions readers ask
What is dramaturgical analysis?
It is a sociological framework developed by Goffman that views human social interaction as a theatrical performance, where individuals manage impressions for an audience.
Where did Goffman conduct his ethnographic research?
He performed his initial doctoral research on the island of Unst in the Shetland Islands and later conducted participant observation at the National Institute for Mental Health.
Achievements
- Notable work: The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life
- Held posts at University of California, Berkeley and University of Pennsylvania
- Fields: sociology
