Dramaturgy
Hi all!
The sociological term I was thinking of today is called dramaturgy (it has a different meaning than the one Colby explained).
From wikipedia:
Dramaturgy or Dramaturgical Perspective is a specialized symbolic interactionism paradigm developed by Erving Goffman, seeing life as a performance. As “actors,” we have a status, which is the part that we play, where we are given various roles.[41] These roles serve as a script, supplying dialogue and action for the characters (the people in reality).[42] They also involve props and certain settings. For instance, a doctor (the role), uses instruments like a heart monitor (the prop), all the while using medical terms (the script), while in his doctor’s office (the setting).[43] In addition, our performance is the “presentation of self,” which is how people perceive us, based on the ways in which we portray ourselves.[44] This process, sometimes called impression management, begins with the idea of personal performance.[45]
Vita, have you studied this? It’s a theory from Erving Goffman, and I know we covered him in my Intro to Soc class.
Anyway–just another way to look at Lo!
April 7th, 2012 at 1:41 pm
Hi Tal,
Thanks so much for following up on this. Here is another article that provides a description of the early work of Goffman and also Kenneth Burke and how they provided a foundation for later theorists, among them Judith Butler (as Vita mentioned), who brought in more of a Foucauldian perspective by emphasizing the power relations involved in this analytical view.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Performative_turn
As Colby pointed out, the ideas came out of theater. Here is an overview of the practice there: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dramaturgy
I think this will be of great value for the discussions ahead in terms of the various characters in the novels as well as the play.
April 10th, 2012 at 7:20 pm
Hi Tal,
Interestingly, I haven’t come across these theories or Erving Goffman in any sociological course yet. I am more aware of abridged versions of Judith Butler’s performance theories, though, ha!
Thanks for the links and I’ll keep my eyes peeled for these in theory courses I have to take soon.
Enjoy your break 🙂