Front Stage and Back Stage

Conceptual Overview and Discussion

An elaboration of these twin terms offers a deeper appreciation of the performative aspect of social [Page 408]behavior. Role-playing involves communication, some of which is linguistic, denotative, and instrumental; here, impressions of the self (and, for that matter, others) are, in Goffman's terms, “given.” Actors also “give off” impressions, largely through nonverbal significations, which appear to be less governable and thus more trustworthy. Effective role-playing, however, requires a demonstration of competency at both levels, and consistency between them. In short, on the front stage, social actors will need to manage the impressions they present to the audience (i.e., those to whom the performance is directed). Social behavior is crafted; it is work. Back stage is the arena in which the demands of a given performance are relaxed, where one can abandon the “front,” or claims, put forward in that performance. In other words, the back stage can be located only with reference to a particular front stage. (Logically, of course, what is back stage to one performance can be the front of another.) Social life is comprised of ongoing series of variable and varying appearances on stage.

An acknowledgment of the impression-management process intimates that social behavior is contrived, and that an actor's real thoughts and feelings emerge only back stage. Such an inference is unwarranted, however. Roles are socially constructed (created by people), but they need not be performed cynically; that is, an actor may believe in any, all, or none of the fronts that he or she projects in the course of social interaction. Indeed, Goffman was not concerned about splitting ontological hairs. Long before the postmodern turn in social science, dramaturgy recognized that social reality is essentially intersubjective, which is to say, comprised of shared perceptions/understandings (i.e., definitions of the situation). Goffman's framework is meant to examine how credible performances, “fronts,” are maintained (with the proper settings, props, clothing, physical appearance, demeanor, teamwork, etc.) or, alternatively, disrupted (e.g., by sheer error or the defections of teammates, those whose task it is to present a united front). Consistency is also imperative within any interaction event, and any front will have to be sequestered from contradictory ones, lest discrediting role conflict—or inconsistent role demands—develop.

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