Erving Goffman: Teori Dramaturgi

Summary

The video explains Erving Goffman’s dramaturgical theory, which treats everyday social interaction as a kind of performance. People try to shape the impressions others form of them while interpreting the impressions others present.

Main Ideas

• Impression management: People prepare how they look and act when they expect to meet others. For example, they may choose particular clothes, get ready, or prepare to teach. These actions help communicate a desired image, such as being competent or well prepared.
• Social life as performance: Goffman compares people to actors and the people they interact with to audiences. The roles and impressions people present depend on the situation.
• Front stage: The public setting where someone performs a role before an audience. Examples include a lecturer teaching, a trader serving customers, or a student attending class. Clothing, behavior, and preparation can all contribute to the performance.
• Backstage: A more private setting where people can step away from their public roles. A lecturer may dress more formally on campus but relax at home. Similarly, a restaurant’s kitchen is generally kept separate from its customer-facing dining area.
• Boundaries between stages: If an audience unexpectedly sees someone backstage, the contrast with that person’s public performance may change the audience’s impression. The video also applies this idea to social media, where people select photos and content to present a favorable image.
• Performances involve more than appearance: People shape impressions through behavior and other signals, such as presenting themselves as pious or admirable.
• Stigma: Goffman’s discussion of stigma concerns how a perceived attribute can shape how others see and treat a person. The video gives disability as an example: someone may be judged as incapable because of a physical impairment, even when they can perform many ordinary activities. It also mentions negative perceptions of people who had COVID-19 as an example of stigma.

The video places Goffman within symbolic interactionism, emphasizing small-scale, everyday interactions. It says his thinking was influenced by the Chicago School and George Herbert Mead, and identifies The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life as a key work.

Speakers and Sources Featured

• Presenter/narrator: The subtitles do not name the speaker. The video metadata identifies the host as Dr. Dede Syarif Madihatur Rabiah.
• Erving Goffman: The sociologist whose ideas are explained; he is discussed rather than heard speaking.
• George Herbert Mead and the Chicago School: Mentioned as intellectual influences, not as speakers.