The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life is a sociology book by Erving Goffman. It uses the imagery of the theater in order to portray the importance of human social interaction. The book was published in 1959.
http://www.clockwatching.net/~jimmy/eng101/articles/goffman_intro.pdf
Some quotes from the book:
''I have said that when an individual appears before others his actions will influence the definition of the situation they come to have''.
''Sometimes the individual will act in a thoroughly calculating manner, expressing himself in a given way solely on order to give the kind of impression to others that is likely to evoke from them a specific response he is concerned to obtain''.
''In any case, in so far as the others act as if the individual bad conveyed a particular impression, we may take a functional or pragmatic view and say that the individual has "effectively" projected a given definition of the situation and "effectively" fostered the understanding that a given state of affairs obtains''.
''For example, in Shetland Isle one crofter's wife, in serving native dishes to a visitor from the mainland of Britain, would listen with a polite smile to his polite claims of liking what he was eating; at the same time she would take note of the rapidity with which the visitor lifted his fork or spoon to his mouth, the eagerness with which he passed food into his mouth, and the gusto expressed in chewing the food, using these signs as a check on the stated feelings of the eater''.
Many interesting points are made in this book:
One is the distinction of two modes of communication - expressions we give and expressions we give off. Expressions we give are intended and a conscious form of expression, as made by verbal communications when talking. Expressions we give off are non-verbal, and mainly an unintentional form of communication that are really effective, consciously or unconsciously, telling us some things about the person expressing it. ''I have said that when an individual appears before others his actions will influence the definition of the situation they come to have''.
Another is the belief in the part a person is playing. There is a different degree as to how much an individual believes that the expression they are putting up as social performance represents the true reality. At one extreme, a performer sincerely feels that whatever he/she is doing represents the true reality, at the other extreme the performer has no belief at all that his/her action stands for anything sincerely real. Lets say, if a person finds no real meanings at all about the religion they nevertheless pretend they do , then they are performing to try and represent a true reality. This attitude often takes form in certain type of cynicism. Between these two extremes there are all kinds of different degrees as to how much actions are believed to be "real".
The first central concept in this book is the concept of front. Front is a 'face' that people use to define and fit in situations in a general and fixed way. Front is divided into several components. First is the setting. This is the scenic, physical parts of expressive equipment, associated with certain spatial location. Next is the personal front, the other items of expressive equipment that their endowment to individuals are perceived to be very natural - such as size and looks, race, sex, speech patterns, etc. Further, Goffman makes the distinction between appearance and manner. Appearance is those aspects of individuals that tell of his/her social statuses. Manner is those aspects of communication that tell of others the type of interaction roles performers expect to play in a certain situation. In short, while the appearance is fairly changeless condition that signifies who we are, manner is how we want to be perceived of in a particular situation. This distinction is interesting, for while there is a tendency for the setting, appearance and manner to coincide, they do not necessarily have to. Sometimes there are discrepancies among those three - how we want to interact with others do not match with our appearances, or the settings we are in, and vice versa. Further, as remarked earlier this concept of front is somewhat similar to Berger & Luckmann's "objectivation". Consequently, the similarity is such that Goffman also perceives of front as the embodiment of generalized reality that can be applied to number of different situations (Although there is some difference between the two in that Goffman gives more attention to the conscious action of individuals to make use of these fronts). Thus, he notes that there is a tendency for a large number of different acts to employ same fronts.
When photographing people i can see them almost evaluating my personality and the way i stand, and mimicking it. This may be to the fact that they want to in some way please me, as i become a controller of them for my own gain. When approaching some they become in some way more confident and begin to pose and stand how they think they should stand to give me an impression of intelligent and style.
To me this is interesting because when they first see me they have no idea as to how i want them to stand, or what i am looking for, So their first question is ''how do you want me to stand''?
One quote that explains this is:
''Sometimes the individual will act in a thoroughly calculating manner, expressing himself in a given way solely on order to give the kind of impression to others that is likely to evoke from them a specific response he is concerned to obtain''.
With this image you can see how the person is not used to being in such a situation and so adopts and uncomfortable and nuitural stance, much like the jumbled and mismatched shop that surrounds him.
An interesting point made in the book is a point about a part that the person is playing. When approached by a camera a person automatically thinks that the expression they are putting up as social performance represents the true reality. So in turn they have to appear how they want to be perceived in order to be worthy of the picture being taken.
With the project i am undertaking revolving around a person reflecting their surroundings it will be interesting to portray the tendency for the setting, appearance and manner to coincide.
