Module 5&6:

Goffman and the performed self;

Interview with Peter. L. Berger.

Symbolic interaction studies the relationships between people in society. Goffman created dramaturgy, in which he divided the self into two parts, the front and the back. Goffman focuses more on and explores “the actual, physical copresence of individuals–the interaction order–shapes the organization of the self.” Goffman’s theory can help us understand the true feelings of others in contemporary society. For example, when parents have problems in educating their children, perhaps parents should take some measures to let the children step down from the “stage” when they get along with their parents and return to the backstage. Understand the problem and participate in the children’s perspective.

Phenomenology is a philosophy that deals with lived experiences that an individual has and not specifically a sociological subject. It dives into how experiences and objects hold different meanings and values based on the subjective view of an individual. This is highlighted in the “Interview with Peter L. Berger on The Social Construction of Reality” where the author of the book “The Social Construction of Reality” argues in it the importance of knowledge of all forms in sociology famously stating “if the sociology of knowledge s to live up to its title, it should concern itself with everything that passes for knowledge in society” and expanding on this by saying “the consciousness of a philosopher is no more interesting to that of the consciousness of a taxi driver”. These connections can help us appreciate others’ perspectives and understand that our views on subjects and objects are subjective, especially when looking at different classes, cultures, etc.

Both theories focus on individual level, subjective understanding of the world, and how it shapes their perception and behavior. One creates meaning; the other tries to comprehend it. The two theories differ in the level & nature of their study – symbolic interactionism focuses on micro level, person to person interactions whereas phenomenology is concerned with the individual itself – reaching as deep as studying perceived reality vs. objective reality. In short, phenomenology is much more abstract compared to interactionism. 

Despite their differences, they can be incorporated/applied together into studies where context is lacking – for example, when studying a particular culture, symbolic interactionism is used when communications are observed – through which we may extract certain symbols, slangs, gestures and such; and when we are interviewing members of said culture we may utilize phenomenology to gather their perception of such slangs, gestures, as well as how they perceive “outsiders”.  We can take individual responses and make comparisons with others’ responses to “arrive” at a meaning.

To conclude, although interactionism is a much more physically involved theory involving multiple individuals whereas phenomenology is much more philosophical and abstract in nature, they both study individual perception and action, and can often be used together in studies.