Recommendations from our site
“The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life is a fascinating book that provides a wealth of insight into social interaction, which Goffman describes in terms of theatrical performance. This concept is explored in Shakespeare’s pastoral comedy As You Like It. One of its most quotable lines is: ‘All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.’ Goffman contends that the roles we play in our daily lives and social interactions are performative in nature, because we always strive to create a favorable impression. According to Goffman, our social interactions are largely governed by avoidance of embarrassment.” Read more...
“This book really nicely captures this identity-generating process that I was describing before, this tendency for human beings to present different versions of themselves, observe how other people react, and then cultivate those identities that make them feel good about themselves. Goffman was really a pioneer in thinking about identity and how identities result from interactions. Often, when people think about identity, they think about something that’s given at birth…but Goffman, and many others after him, discovered the fluidity of our identities, that we tend to adapt according to our social environment.” Read more...
The Best Books on Social Media and Political Polarization
Chris Bail, Sociologist
“It’s about trying to systematically understand the ways in which people behave in social situations—how they collaborate with others to make and maintain their sense of self by playing certain roles.” Read more...
The best books on Personality Types
Merve Emre, Literary Scholar
