DiscoverUnpacking Ideas39. Erving Goffman on The Performative Self
39. Erving Goffman on The Performative Self

39. Erving Goffman on The Performative Self

Update: 2025-07-14
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Description

In this episode we unpack American Sociologist Erving Goffman's 1954 classic, "The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life."

This book explores...

* The art of impression management

*The desire to maintain consistent performances

*The self as a social construct

Host: Zach Stehura  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠UnpackingIdeas.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Guest: Jason Doe

Intro Music: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Polyenso⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Free PDF of the book: ⁠free pdf

*note* reading is not required to enjoy this episode!

Timestamps

0:00:00 Introduction

0:04:46 Historical Context

0:06:43 “All the World is a Stage…”

0:08:13 Audience/Performer Dynamic

0:10:45 First Impressions 

0:12:00   Consistent Performances

0:13:45 Working Consensus

0:17:30 Idealization

0:20:24 Mystification

0:22:27 Audience Segregation

0:25:53 Dramatization 

0:28:27 Front Stage/Back Stage

0:37:40 Teams

0:42:00 Discrepant Roles

0:51:38 Failed Performances

0:52:20 Audience Tact 

0:54:35 The Moral Character of the Definition of the Situation

0:57:13 False Notes

1:08:09 Performing for Ourselves

1:13:25 The Self as Social Construct

1:18:11 Cynical and Sincere Performances

1:20:17 Masks Becoming Personality

1:22:21 Outro

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39. Erving Goffman on The Performative Self

39. Erving Goffman on The Performative Self

Zach Stehura