Discuss Goffman’s ideas concerning self and society from his quote “…our status is backed by the solid building of the world, while our sense of personal identity often resides in the cracks.”

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Goffman’s notion of secondary adjustments recalls the distinction he made in The
Presentation of Self in Everyday Life between the “performer” and “character.” While he arguably emphasized the “fictional” nature of the self in that work, here he contends that behind the performer’s mask lies a solid, “stance-taking entity.” Nevertheless, the self, contrary to the claims of psychologists and psychiatrists, is realized only in and through the social arrangements that alone create the conditions for its expression. And contrary to the claims of sociologists, the self is much more than a simple reflection of the groups to which it belongs: Without something to belong to, we have no stable self, and yet total commitment and attachment to any social unit implies a kind of selflessness. Our sense of being a person can come from being drawn into a wider social unit; our sense of selfhood can rise through the little ways we resist the pull. Our status is backed by the solid building of the world, while our sense of personal identity often resides in the cracks. (1961:320)