The dramaturgical perspective is a model for human behavior that studies how humans establish meaning to their lives. This separates it from many other sociological theories because it does not examine the cause for behavior but the context. In this sense dramaturgy is a process which is determined by consensus between individuals. Because of this dependence on consensus to define social situations, the perspective argues that there is no concrete meaning to any interaction that could not be redefined. Dramaturgy emphasizes expressiveness as the main component of interactions. It is termed a "fully two-sided view of human interaction."
Erving Goffman
Goffman first brought dramaturgy into the language of social psychology with his publication The Presentation of Self In Everyday Life. The book explores a multitude of interactions whereby we in everyday life engage in performances of the self in a way similar to a actor portraying a character.
The Self As Interactive Phenomenon
Dramaturgical theory challenges the idea of self and personality as being no less than the sum of one's experiences. What this infers is that a person's self and identity is not a independent psychological entity but a continual process which is fluid with variations in interaction.
Goffman gives detailed examples in his book of ways in which the self is situationally relative, but here are some simplistic archetypes of how these interactions occur and how theatrical performance works as a metaphor. Before an interaction with another, an individual typically prepares a role, or impression, that he or she wants to make on the other. Those roles are subject to what is in theater termed "breaking character." Inopportune intrusions may occur, in which a backstage performance is interrupted by someone not meant to see it (as certain aspects of our preparation are more clumsily put together and not meant for others to see.) In addition, there are examples of how the audience for any personal performance plays a part in determining the course it takes: how typically we ignore many performance flaws out of tact, such as if someone trips or spits as they speak.
See also
symbolic interactionism
References
Life as Theater: A Dramaturgical Source Book. Second Edition. Brissett, Dennis and Edgeley, Charles ed. New York: Walter de Gruyter 1990. The Presentation of the Self In Everyday Life. Erving Goffman. New York: Doubleday 1959.
