What is Goffman’s ‘dramaturgical approach’?

Having background in theatre, Erving Goffman saw our daily interactions as performances. He assumed that our self is a public entity. Self is not something pre-determined or static, but a fundamentally social creation formed through interactions with others. Therefore, we can have different selves depending on the interaction - we can play different roles. For example, we play a different role at school in interaction with our teachers, than we do outside on the weekend with our friends. Contexts, or situations, are thus crucial components of Goffman’s theory, as they determine the exact form of our interaction. According to Goffman, situations are divided between front and back regions/stages. In the context of a backstage, we prepare the role we want to play, which we then perform in the front state. Clear division between and control of the boundaries between front and backstage is what Goffman saw as the prime form of control over our self-presentation. When using Goffman’s theory, it is important to remember that he was a theorist of the everyday life. He was not attempting to explain society as a whole, but only individual behaviour within it. The applicability of his theory is therefore going to be limited.