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dramaturgical analysis

Definition of Dramaturgical Analysis

(noun) Erving Goffman’s (1922–1982) approach to analyzing social interactions using the metaphor of a theatrical performance, viewing a social situation as a scene and people as actors who strategically present themselves to impress others.

Dramaturgical Analysis Pronunciation

Pronunciation Usage Guide

Syllabification: dram·a·tur·gi·cal a·nal·y·sis

Audio Pronunciation

– American English
– British English

Usage Notes

  • Plural: dramaturgies
  • As a methodology, the process was explained in The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (1959), including related terms such as back stage, front stage, impression management, and role.
  • Dramaturgical analysis is a symbolic interactionist approach.
  • Also called:
    • dramaturgical analysis
    • dramaturgical approach
    • dramaturgical model
    • dramaturgical perspective
    • dramaturgical sociology
    • dramaturgy

Related Videos

Related Quotation

  • “It seems to me that the dramaturgical approach may constitute a fifth perspective, to be added to the technical, political, structural, and cultural perspectives. The dramaturgical perspective, like each of the other four, can be employed as the end-point of analysis, as a final way of ordering facts. This would lead us to describe the techniques of impression management employed in a given establishment, the principal problems of impression management in the establishment, and the identity and interrelationships of the several performance teams which operate in the establishment. But, as with the facts utilized in each of the other perspectives, the facts specifically pertaining to impression management also play a part in the matters that are a concern in all the other perspectives” (Goffman 1956:154).

Additional Information

Related Terms


Reference

Goffman, Erving. 1956. The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. Edinburgh, Scotland: University of Edinburgh Social Science Research Centre.

Works Consulted

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Cite the Definition of Dramaturgical Analysis

ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “dramaturgical analysis.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved March 29, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/dramaturgical-analysis/).

APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)

dramaturgical analysis. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/dramaturgical-analysis/

Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “dramaturgical analysis.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed March 29, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/dramaturgical-analysis/.

MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)

“dramaturgical analysis.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/dramaturgical-analysis/>.