| The con man as model organism: the methodological roots of Erving Goffman's dramaturgical self. | |
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MedLine Citation:
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PMID: 21809510 Owner: HMD Status: In-Process |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
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This article offers a historical analysis of the relationship between the practice of participant-observation among American sociologists and Erving Goffman's dramaturgical model of the self. He was a social scientist who privileged ethnography in the field over the laboratory experiment, the survey questionnaire, or the mental test. His goal was a natural history of communication among humans. Rather than rely upon standardizing technologies for measurement, Goffman tried to obtain accurate recordings of human behavior through secretive observations. During the 1950s, he conducted three major studies as a participant-observer, disguised from those studied through insincere performances. As originally presented, his dramaturgical theory did not draw upon the theater as the governing metaphor, but rather the confidence game. It is suggested that Goffman's writings exemplify what Gerd Gigerenzer calls the tools-to-theories heuristic. Goffman's depiction of the confidence man's behavior closely mirrored how he and his fellow sociologists described the practice of participant-observation. Both were represented as embedded and attentive yet coolly detached observers skilled at playing different roles as the situation necessitated. The similarities between his own professional behavior and the activities of the confidence man may have suggested to Goffman the latter as a model for human nature. |
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Authors:
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Michael Pettit |
Publication Detail:
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Type: Journal Article |
Journal Detail:
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Title: History of the human sciences Volume: 24 ISSN: 0952-6951 ISO Abbreviation: Hist Human Sci Publication Date: 2011 |
Date Detail:
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Created Date: 2011-08-02 Completed Date: - Revised Date: - |
Medline Journal Info:
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Nlm Unique ID: 100967737 Medline TA: Hist Human Sci Country: England |
Other Details:
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Languages: eng Pagination: 138-54 Citation Subset: Q |
Affiliation:
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York Univ., Canada. |
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From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
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