HUMSS - Anssi Peräkylä

Do we experience ”self” in interaction all the time or just occasionally?

The sociologist Erving Goffman claimed that in all social encounters, participants are concerned about the positive self-image of themselves and of their interaction partners. While Goffman is often celebrated as a pioneer of contemporary interaction research, his ideas of the "omnipresence" of self in interaction have been met with resistance, especially in conversation analysis.  In my presentation, I will discuss Goffman's claim in the light of some philosophical, psychological and sociological conceptualizations of the self.  I will also suggest that the experiences and interactional practices of narcissistic persons can cast light in the presence of self in social interaction that otherwise remains implicit.