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Loading... Interaction Ritual - Essays on Face-to-Face Behavior422 | 1 | 59,426 |
(3.91) | None | "Not then, men and their moments. Rather, moment and their men," writes Erving Goffman in the introduction to his groundbreaking 1967 Interaction Ritual, a study of face-to-face interaction in natural settings, that class of events which occurs during co-presence and by virtue of co-presence. The ultimate behavioral materials are the glances, gestures, positionings, and verbal statements that people continuously feed into situations, whether intended or not. A sociology of occasions is here advocated. Social organization is the central theme, but what is organized is the co-mingling of persons and the temporary interactional enterprises that can arise therefrom. A normatively stabilized structure is at issue, a "social gathering," but this is a shifting entity, necessarily evanescent, created by arrivals and killed by departures. The major section of the book is the essay "Where the Action Is," drawing on Goffman's last major ethnographic project observation of Nevada casinos. Tom Burns says of Goffman's work "The eleven books form a singularly compact body of writing. All his published work was devoted to topics and themes which were closely connected, and the methodology, angles of approach and of course style of writing remained characteristically his own throughout. Interaction Ritual in particular is an interesting account of daily social interaction viewed with a new perspective for the logic of our behavior in such ordinary circumstances as entering a crowded elevator or bus." In his new introduction, Joel Best considers Goffman's work in toto and places Interaction Ritual in that total context as one of Goffman's pivotal works: "His subject matter was unique. In sharp contrast to the natural tendency of many scholars to tackle big, important topics, Goffman was a minimalist, working on a small scale, and concentrating on the most mundane, ordinary social contacts, on everyday life.'"… (more) |
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▾References References to this work on external resources. Wikipedia in English (2)▾Book descriptions "Not then, men and their moments. Rather, moment and their men," writes Erving Goffman in the introduction to his groundbreaking 1967 Interaction Ritual, a study of face-to-face interaction in natural settings, that class of events which occurs during co-presence and by virtue of co-presence. The ultimate behavioral materials are the glances, gestures, positionings, and verbal statements that people continuously feed into situations, whether intended or not. A sociology of occasions is here advocated. Social organization is the central theme, but what is organized is the co-mingling of persons and the temporary interactional enterprises that can arise therefrom. A normatively stabilized structure is at issue, a "social gathering," but this is a shifting entity, necessarily evanescent, created by arrivals and killed by departures. The major section of the book is the essay "Where the Action Is," drawing on Goffman's last major ethnographic project observation of Nevada casinos. Tom Burns says of Goffman's work "The eleven books form a singularly compact body of writing. All his published work was devoted to topics and themes which were closely connected, and the methodology, angles of approach and of course style of writing remained characteristically his own throughout. Interaction Ritual in particular is an interesting account of daily social interaction viewed with a new perspective for the logic of our behavior in such ordinary circumstances as entering a crowded elevator or bus." In his new introduction, Joel Best considers Goffman's work in toto and places Interaction Ritual in that total context as one of Goffman's pivotal works: "His subject matter was unique. In sharp contrast to the natural tendency of many scholars to tackle big, important topics, Goffman was a minimalist, working on a small scale, and concentrating on the most mundane, ordinary social contacts, on everyday life.'" ▾Library descriptions No library descriptions found. ▾LibraryThing members' description
Book description |
La vie sociale est un théâtre, mais un théâtre particulièrement dangereux. A ne pas marquer la déférence qu'exige son rôle, à se tenir mal, à trop se détacher des autres comédiens, l'acteur, ici, court de grands risques. Celui, d'abord, de perdre la face ; et peut-être même la liberté : les hôpitaux psychiatriques sont là pour accueillir ceux qui s'écartent du texte. Il arrive ainsi que la pièce prenne l'allure d'un drame plein de fatalité et d'action, où l'acteur-acrobate - sportif, flambeur ou criminel - se doit et nous doit de travailler sans filet. Et les spectateurs d'applaudir, puis de retourner à leurs comédies quotidiennes, satisfaits d'avoir vu incarnée un instant, resplendissant dans sa rareté, la morale toujours sauve qui les soutient. | |
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Even if it’s out of date, it’s still pretty interesting. This is “good sociology” or social anthropology; observing, recording and analyzing the way people behave without being “politically correct”, or even political at all.
The first essay is “On Face-Work”, “face” is in the Oriental sense, and Goffman discusses what it means to “lose face” and various ways losing face can be avoided or face, once lost, can be regained. Interestingly, although Goffman uses the Oriental term, he argues that it can be universally applied regardless of culture. Goffman makes the dispassionate but poignant observation that middle and upper class Negroes will avoid situations that might make them lose face with lower class whites. Times change.
“The Nature of Deference and Demeanor” discusses behavior in two wards at a mental hospital - one with relatively “normal” patients and one with schizophrenic girls. Goffman makes the point that one of the characteristics the schizophrenic patients is inappropriate deference; they treat the doctors with undo familiarity, interrupt them, attempt to gain access when they are behind a closed door, etc. But Goffman goes a little beyond this by also watching the behavior of doctors and nurses to see what “normal” deference is. Here’s one of the places where the books shows its age; it’s take for granted that all the doctors will be men and all the nurses will be women, and that it’s appropriate for a doctor to call a nurse by her first name but that a nurse must address a doctor by his title. Goffman does mention that, in this “progressive” hospital, it’s no longer required for nurses to rise when a doctor enters a room. Times change.
There follow short essays on “Embarrassment and Social Organization”, “Alienation from Interaction” (how people avoid a conversation they don’t want to be involved in or unintentionally decline conversation because they are preoccupied with something else) and “Mental Symptoms and the Public Order”, all of which are fairly obvious but still interesting. Almost half the book is devoted to the last essay, “Where The Action Is”, which is about gambling and risk taking. Goffman must have had fun writing this one, because much of it involves observation of gamblers at Las Vegas casinos. This includes an extensive discussion of what “action” is, and its importance to teenagers and men in general (including extensive quotes from Ernest Hemingway’s writings on bullfighting).. Goffman only briefly discusses women and “action”, speculating that young women gamble with their sexual reputations the same way young men gamble with their lives and money.
I’m interested enough to want to read some more of Goffman, and to see what’s been updated. ( )