Goffman's Presentation Of Identity

An investigation on how youth identities are performed on street corners call into account a number of important theoretical considerations. Firstly, understanding how identity and performance can relate to one another needs to de delved into for the discussion. In order to do so, I draw on Goffman’s (1959) Presentation of self in everyday life thesis, where his focus is on social interaction and he argues that we develop a sense of self by performing roles in life. Goffman (1959) uses the borrowed metaphor dramaturgy to show how talk is performed. Goffman’s work shows that during interaction, individuals ‘perform’ in order to project a desirable image. Goffman (1959) makes use of the theatre to show individual behaviour contracting front stage
and back stage behaviour.