Erving Goffman

Decades after his death, the figure of Erving Goffman (1922-82) continues to fascinate. Perhaps the best-known sociologist of the second half of the twentieth century, Goffman was an unquestionably significant thinker whose reputation extended well beyond his parent discipline. A host of concepts irrevocably linked to Goffman's name - such as 'presentation of self', 'total institutions', 'stigma', 'impression management' and 'passing' - are now staples in a wide range of academic discourses and are slipping into common usage. Goffman's writings uncover a previously unnoticed pattern in the minutiae of everyday interaction. Readers are often shocked when they recognize themselves in his shrewd analyses of errors and common predicaments. This superb study, written by one of the most respected sociologists at work today, is an indispensible guide to the sociology of Erving Goffman. This book offers a compact guide to Goffman’s key ideas and the debates they have engendered, and incorporates understandings generated by recent Goffman scholarship. Few sociologists have commanded a larger readership than Erving Goffman. From his first book, The Presentation of Self In Everyday Life (1956), to his last, Forms of Talk (1981), his publications were eagerly awaited and his ideas widely discussed. In 1982 when he died at the age of 60, the response was that a figure of outstanding importance had left the stage of modern sociology. In this powerful study, Tom Burns provides a meticulous and incomparable examination of Erving Goffman's work. Burn's arranges Goffman's writings into a series of themes such as 'Social Order', 'Acting Out', normalisation', 'abnormalisation', 'grading and discrimination' and 'realms of being'. This is a useful device because it brings out the richness and diversity of Goffman's preoccupations. This richness and diversity is often lost in secondary accounts which insist on labelling Goffman as a 'micro-sociologist' or 'symbolic interactionist'. In a painstaking and accurate discussion Burns shows the meaning and application of Goffman's key concepts. He also guides the reader in the direct influences upon Goffman's thought. He shows more clearly than anyone else how Goffman was influenced by Durkheim, Simmel, the Chicago School, animal ethology and linguistic philosophy. The book ends with a crisp and incisive critical assessment of Goffman's sociology. Book Cover......Page 1 Title......Page 4 Contents......Page 5 Author's note......Page 8 PRELIMINARIES......Page 10 SOCIAL ORDER-INTERACTION ORDER......Page 26 INVOLVEMENT, INTERDEPENDENCE, AND ALIENATION......Page 57 FRIENDS, POLITE FICTIONS, AND ENEMIES......Page 85 ACTING OUT......Page 115 "NORMALISATION"......Page 150 "ABNORMALISATION"......Page 177 GRADING AND DISCRIMINATION......Page 219 REALMS OF BEING......Page 248 THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS......Page 279 TOWARDS A RHETORIC OF TALK......Page 307 TALK AND ITS AUDIENCES......Page 339 LOOSE ENDS, AND SOME CONNECTIONS......Page 366 Index......Page 391 This superb study, written by one of the most respected sociologists at work today, is an indispensable guide to the sociology of Erving Goffman. It offers a compact guide to his key ideas and debates This superb study, written by one of the most respected sociologists at work today, is an indispensible guide to the sociology of Erving Goffman. It offers a compact guide to his key ideas and debates Tom Burns. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.