הפקולטה למדעי הרווחה והבריאות
Faculty of Social Welfare & Health]טקסט [הקלד
Sciences
בית הספר לטיפול באמצעות אמנויות
Graduate School of Creative Arts Therapies
Academic Journal of Creative Art Therapies December 2015
V o l. 5 , I s su e 2
A book review: The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life
Goffman, E. (2003). The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. Ben Shemen: Modan Publishing.
Reviewed by: Dov Blum-Yazdi - Drama Therapist and Clinical Criminologist. Graduate of psychotherapy mind-
body-spirit program. Doctoral student in psychoanalysis and Hermeneutic: Bar-Ilan Uni. Works in "Place to be" a
drama and arts therapy studio. Supervision and teaching in Arts Therapist training programs: Haifa Uni. and the
Academic College of Arts and society. Researcher of "Leelah - unintentional play model" and "The play paradigm":
Theoretical Concepts of Power, Identity and Liberty in the Therapeutic Playing Field. A peace activist.
The 'playing self' in sociology The stage model
The fundamental question of self- identity seeks to In his book The Presentation of Self in Everyday
define and understand who I am and what I am. The Life, Goffman (2003) presents the results of a
philosophical endeavor is to formulate what is essential sociological study which uses the dramaturgical
to man and what are the values which are meaningful to perspective to explore social life. His stage model
human existence. There are many philosophical assumes that life presents us with things that are real,
approaches to this subject, from Socrates to the present and which may not have been well rehearsed before
day: these approaches offer distinctions between their exposure before us: "it is possible that the
existence and essence; and between action and the appearance of he who performs in public will suffer
contemplation of different self-perceptions. Each, in its
way, reveals the existence and formation of the Self. In from a lack of appropriate dramaturgical intention"
this review article I refer to the book by the sociologist (ibid, pg. 53). In real life, the part played by the
Erving Goffman, "The Presentation of Self in Everyday individual is suited in size to the parts played by the rest
Life", which presents the Self as 'a playing entity' or as of those present; "the rest of those present" refers to the
a playing essence, and inquires as to the meaning of its audience. Therefore, a theatrical performance is nothing
insights in terms of the field of drama therapy. While but a sham, as opposed to the performance of everyday
this book is not new, it is still significant and relevant to life.
drama therapy today. The principles of the model
According to Goffman, the individual must act in
such a way that he is able to express himself, while
December 2015 Academic Journal of Creative Arts Therapies Page 346
http://ajcat.haifa.ac.il
Academic Journal of Creative Art Therapies
others must, in some way, form an impression of him. together contribute to the all-embracing definition of
The eloquence of the individual and his ability to create the situation, and this definition does not necessarily
an impression on others include two types of essentially reflect true agreement as to what in fact exists; rather,
dissimilar signaling operations: (a) the impression true agreement as to the question of whose demands, or
which the individual knowingly creates: formed by what questions, must be temporarily honored or
the verbal cues or substitutes which the individual uses addressed. In addition, a real consensus regarding the
in order to create the impression that he, and others, issue will prevail among the participants, since
tend associate with these symbols. This is avoidance of open conflict regarding the definition of
communication in the primary and conventional sense. the situation is preferred.
(b) The impression created by his appearance: which According to Goffman, given that the individual
we tend to consider "an unconscious effect" (ibid, pg. purposefully plans the definition of the situation when
67): includes a wide range of action, which others he enters the presence of others, we can assume that
consider to be necessary for the process, and since it is incidents may occur during the interaction; and these
an unconscious impression, the act is perceived as real, incidents may contradict, cast a doubt on, or negate the
honest and sincere, and of an essential nature. In definition of the situation in question. When such
practice, the information conveyed by the individual to "disruptions in execution" (ibid, pg. 177) occur, the
others using these two types of communication is interaction itself may be suspended in a confusing and
contingent. In both cases, it is not the essential nature of embarrassing manner. Some of the assumptions upon
the individual's own Self, rather a pretense or which the reactions of the participants were based lose
embodiment of a role: "neither of these extremes is their validity, and the participants feel themselves
necessary..." (ibid, pg. 68). immersed in an interaction for which the situation has
Of the two types of communication - the impression been wrongly defined and in which it is no longer clear.
that man creates and the impression of him created, Dan At such moments, that individual whose self-
Goffman addresses mainly the latter, which is "the representation has been disrupted may feel shame,
more theatrical and context-dependent kind" (ibid, pg. while the others may feel hostility towards him; all the
15). If we accept the premise that an individual creates participants feel uncomfortable in such a situation: they
a definition of the situation in his appearance before stand bemused, helpless and at a loss. They experience
others, we must realize that those others, passive as the anomaly which occurs with the collapse of the tiny
their role may be, will themselves create their own social system expressed in a face to face interaction.
personal definition of the situation, as a result of the Goffman explains that the fact that the initial
reactions to the presence of the aforementioned definition of the situation, created by the individual,
individual as well as all of the modes of action initiated may be used as a basis for the resulting cooperation:
in his presence: "even on the stage no 'hero' appears while emphasizing the point of view of the action, we
alone. He is surrounded by a group of persons who give must not overlook the crucial fact that every definition
vitality and meaning to his actions and words" (ibid, pg. of a situation created in this way also has a moral
187). Therefore, such is Goffman's definition of character. For Goffman, the moral character of this plan
consensus for work purposes: all of the participants represents a major theme for discussion, as he claims
December 2015 Academic Journal of Creative Arts Therapies Page 347
http://ajcat.haifa.ac.il
Academic Journal of Creative Art Therapies
that human society is based on the principle according almost happened, or disruptions which occurred and
to which every person who has certain social which were resolved in an admirable manner. It seems
characteristics, has the moral right to expect that "others that no group exists which does not have a ready stock
will appreciate his worth and relate to him in an of plays, amusements and books of tales which teach a
appropriate manner" (ibid, pg. 22). lesson; all of which are used as a source of jokes, a
The importance of disruptions in the definition of means for the group to relieve anxiety, and as advice
the situation must not be evaluated according to the instructing the group to moderate their demands and
frequency with which they occur, as it is clear that such limit their expectations.
disruptions would occur more often if not for the In summary, when an individual appears before the
continuous implementation of preventive measures. other, he will have many motives to control their
Goffman argues that precautions are consistently taken impression of the situation. Goffman's interest lies in
in order to avoid such embarrassing situations and to the presentation of common techniques which prompt
make up for events whose disruption was not people to preserve this kind of impression, as well as
prevented. According to Goffman, the strategies and the results; i.e. the identity formed due to the use of
tactics used by the individual to protect the definition of these techniques. This special program of activities
a situation created by himself are called "protective carried out by the individual participating in the
measures" (ibid, pg. 180). When used by the individual interaction, or the role fulfilled by the individual within
participating in an interaction to protect his definition of the combined activities of a live, active social system is
the situation and prevent the disruption of his not a topic for discussion by Goffman, since he views
presentation of Self, these measures may also be called them to be a posteriori. The purpose of Goffman's essay
"tact" (ibid, pg. 197). Goffman points out that most is to discuss the dramaturgical processes of the
impressions can coexist because the recipients of the participant; his dramaturgical problems inherent in his
impression also employ protective measures, or tact, presentation of Self and his actions before others, which
while receiving it. help or prevent him from creating a coherent "I". The
In addition to the fact that precautions are taken to focus of the discussion is on stage arts and on stage
avoid any disruption of the planned definitions of the management, which are integrated into everyday life in
situation, Goffman notes that "there is great interest in society everywhere, and which provide Goffman with a
these disruptions, and it [this interest] plays a clearly defined dimension for structured and systematic
significant role in the social life of the group" (ibid, pg. sociological analysis: "therefore, we may not have to
23). In groups, it is customary to play and make analyze performance based on quantitative criteria... it
reciprocal social "pranks", into which embarrassment is is better that they be analyzed by artistic analysis" (ibid,
intentionally integrated, which are not intended to be pg. 52).
taken seriously. Intricate fantasies which involve Critique
catastrophic shame are woven. Anecdotes from the past To understand the effects of Goffman's teachings on
- real, modified or fictional, described in detail, are told the field of drama therapy, I will address three leading
and retold; disruptions which occurred and which were questions: (1) What is the role of biology in the identity
thwarted, disruptions which were avoided or which of the Playing Man? (2) What will allow the playing
December 2015 Academic Journal of Creative Arts Therapies Page 348
http://ajcat.haifa.ac.il
Academic Journal of Creative Art Therapies
subject consistency / what will stabilize his being? (3) subject decides to create an identity. This identity
What is the purpose of the individual who is playing? undergoes constant transformation. Therefore, I
1. Biologism. Goffman's book suggests that any attempt propose that the focus of drama therapy should be to
to base psychoanalysis on a biological model, and any allow the player to recognize the ever-changing truth
attempt at the direct application of biological concepts about himself. Man can recognize his own truth only
to a therapeutic field, will inevitably be misleading and when it is expressed in play. Only after he has been
eliminate the essential distinction between biology and played in the presence of the other does the player,
culture. This is because mental representations are not whoever he may be, win full recognition. It is via the
necessarily created in parallel to the physical act of play that the player brings his 'self' into existence.
development of the child; and there are no As claimed by Lacan (Lacan & Miller, 1988), truth is
psychological characteristics which inevitably occur in not something waiting to be revealed, and it is not
accordance with the growth of the body or in something which represents a unique essence. The
accordance with the anatomy of the body. Such moment of revelation of truth regarding the Playing
explanations of human behavior, made by biologists, Man is the moment in which it is created; its discovery
ignore the precedence of the construction of symbols in and its creation are the same, as they emerge
the definition of self of the Playing Man (Blum-Yazdi, simultaneously.
2014b). 2. Cohesion. Many theorists have examined the fear of
The question to be examined is whether we perform breakdown (Winnicott, 2010, 1999), the fear of the
biological reductionism, of mental effects, when we collapse of the Self (Kohut, 2005), the difficulty of
assume that concepts borrowed from biology have a creating a continuous and uniform identity when play
structured mental representation? For example, is the has no real value (Erikson, 1961), and the fear that the
concept of a phallus a tangible part of the body which show will not last (Goffman, 2003). The study by
has an actual mental representation, or is it a symbol Huizinga (2009, 1984) explains how a cohesive
with a symbolic representation? The cultural 'playing Self' was formed in the medieval period.
perspective, too, which completely ignores the According to Huizinga, during this period the theatrical
relevance of biology, may miss important indicators. If play of life itself was, among other things, a tool via
the meaning of "biologism" is understood correctly, i.e., which lifestyle patterns were consciously redesigned.
if it is understood to be ancillary, not a reduction of The Passion of the courtiers for secession, that gave rise
mental effects to raw biological determinism, in such a the need to provide a formal pattern of world
way that the power of the images enables them to act as experience, "copied the real life to the drama era"
mechanisms for release, then it is possible to support (2009, p 105). Meanwhile, life became a public
the biological viewpoint as well. spectacle courtyards, live drama, theatricality
The social order is the main playing field in which ceremonial and stiff which exists in all social ritual.
the Playing Man wishes to adopt an identity. This Such play patterns, delivered in a historic manner and
identity can never be fully achieved. The social embodied by symbols, provide an interpretation of life
construct is not a field for the creation of a real, and of the world. This is the true value of a social ideal,
authentic identity; rather, the reason for which the which establishes a symbolic system that serves as a
December 2015 Academic Journal of Creative Arts Therapies Page 349
http://ajcat.haifa.ac.il
Academic Journal of Creative Art Therapies
mechanism for the construction of meaning, as a The interdependence between the viewer and the
formula for the formalization, defamiliarization and viewed affects more than the quality of the theatrical
exclusion of a chaotic and confusing reality. This experience. The viewing by an external observer, a
system maps the world of experience, explains political fellow-man, another; or by the inner Self, the changing
history and regulates the processes on two levels: the self, turns the behavior of the individual into a show -
social level, generated by rituals and order; and the not in the sense of a sham or pretense, but in the
psychological level, produced by the playing figure, the deepest sense of the word: an activity directed at the
coherent Self. What began as role playing in the field of other, and an awareness of him as an integral part of the
social patterns was internalized as a value in a reconstitution of the Self. As claimed by Lacan (1977):
collection of common images and symbols used by "man's desire is the desire of / to the other" (pg. 235).
cultural agents in the process of socialization and in the Therefore, my conclusion is that the subject emerges
process of construction of the identity of Playing Man while being an other; that is, the subject comes into
(Blum-Yazdi, 2014a). being from the perspective of the other. Because of this,
According to Goffman, the cohesion of Self of the Playing Self of the individual is essentially an
Western Man is usually fed by illusion, such as the object that someone else has aroused to. What creates
cohesion self which is created based on biology, Our the motivation / the attraction for the other is not some
goal is to support the illusion and confirm it. Lacan internal trait of the thing itself, but the very existence of
(2005), also refers to the illusion of cohesion self. the otherness. This fact tends to reduce the special
According to him, the only full and coherent exist, importance of the particular other, but at the same time,
integrates in the symbolic order. Whereby the illusion it makes the existence of countless others visible. The
of the body provides the subject with stability and a playing Self is the playing Self of / to the other. The
construct of reality. Illusions create a feeling that we playing Self emerges to / for the other, and is therefore,
know who we are, what our objects are, and what the essentially, the playing Self of the other. Its significance
purpose of life is; therefore, during drama therapy is also found in that it is the object of the playing Self
process, the illusion should not be interpreted. The of the other, who receives recognition by another,
illusion shapes the identity of the individual at play and additional person. The signifiers, says Derrida (1978),
the task of the subject is to examine his position in it. always only signifies other signifiers, and not the
The success of treatment in drama therapy, the creation essence beyond the words.
of a coherent Self, may lie in the fact that the subject Thus, the playing Self is in constant motion from
recognizes the illusion inherent in what is 'real'. This one 'other' to the next, the first 'other' always indicating
recognition will allow the subject to deal with his the second 'other', and so on. Therefore, drama therapy
symptoms and alter his fate. is inevitably characterized by a never-ending process,
3. Aim. According to Goffman (2003), the daily life of as the playing Self is always playing for someone else.
the Self is contingent on another, who observes him; If the identity of Playing Man is the identity of the
similar to the theater, as a specific example of human other, born in the field of the other, then the field in
play, since the medium of theater is built primarily on which this identity was born is a field without a master:
the relationship between the viewer and the viewed. there is no Playing Other for the Playing Man, which is
December 2015 Academic Journal of Creative Arts Therapies Page 350
http://ajcat.haifa.ac.il
Academic Journal of Creative Art Therapies
similar to the declaration of the emptiness of the Holy
Sepulcher (Blum-Yazdi, 2013).
In summary, the Playing Man originates in the other.
Therefore, the most important point brought up by this
discussion is that the individual at play is a product of
society. The individual at play is not a private matter, as
it appeared to be at first glance, rather, is always found
in a dialectical relationship with the perceived desires
of the other Play Subjects. The result of the
investigation of this issue, and of the question of the
extent to which the one at play in drama therapy may
surpass himself and make a radical choice to be
something else, may be the building of a model or
structure that takes into account that the Playing Man
has qualities of both consolidation and change.
December 2015 Academic Journal of Creative Arts Therapies Page 351
http://ajcat.haifa.ac.il
Academic Journal of Creative Art Therapies
References
Blum-Yazdi, D. (2013). Language, Kwan, World.
Journal of east-west Psychology. Quart. No. Kohut, H. (2005). How Does Analysis Cure? Tel Aviv:
3, 3.9, Bar-Ilan University. Am Oved.
Blum-Yazdi, D. (2014a). Leelah - a play in itself: a non Lacan, J. (1977). The seminar, Book XI, The Four
intervention model of drama therapy. In Berger, R. Fundamental Concepts of
(editor), Creation - The therapy heart (p. 67-95). Psychoanalysis, trans. Alan Sheridan, .London:
Kriyat Bialik: ahch. Hogarth Press and the Institute of Psycho Analysis.
Blum-Yazdi, D. (2014b). Power games: Huizinga vs. Lacan, J. (2005). 20th Seminary (1973-1972) More. Tel
Klein - approaches to play. Journal of Creative Arts Aviv:Resling.
Therapies (AJCAT). Volume 4, Issue 2, pp. 457-474,
University of Haifa. Lacan, J., & Miller, J. A. (1988). The Seminar of
Derrida, J. (1978). Writing and Difference. Tras. Alan Jacques Lacan: Book II: The Ego in Freud's Theory
Bass. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. and in the Technique of Psychoanalysis. CUP
Erikson, E. H. (1937). Configurations in play: Clinical Archive.
notes. Psychoanal. Quart. 6:139-206. Winnicott, D., W. (1999). Playing and Reality. Tel
Goffman, E. (2003). The Presentation of Self in Aviv: Am Oved.
Everyday Life. Ben Shemen: Modan Publishing. Winnicott, D., W. (2010). True self, false self. Tel
Huizinga, J. (1984). Playing Man. Jerusalem: Bialik. Aviv: Am Oved.
Huizinga, J. (2009). Fall middle Ages. (Translation:
Carla Perlstein). Jerusalem: Carmel.
Dov Blum-Yazdi [email protected]
December 2015 Academic Journal of Creative Arts Therapies Page 352
http://ajcat.haifa.ac.il
