Goffman and the Media

Peter Lunt is Professor of Media and Communication at the University of Leicester.

• Acknowledgements1: The Reception of Goffman’s Work in Media and Communication2: Goffman’s Work: Themes of Communication and Media3: Mediated Social Interaction4: Interactionism and Media Sociology5: ConclusionsReferencesIndex

"This insightful volume offers reviews, contextualizations, and critiques of Goffman’s work. Lunt explains why concepts like framing, impression management and facework resonate in media studies despite Goffman’s focus on unmediated interaction, and suggests how deeper readings of both Goffman and his critics might further unpack how everyday interactions through and with media create social systems."Nancy Baym, Senior Principal Research Manager, Microsoft Research"Goffman’s ideas were ahead of his time in illuminating our understanding of technologically-mediated social interaction that is commonplace today. Even as we see a proliferation of social media platforms, virtual interaction realms and Generative AI-powered chatbots, this insightful volume captures the enduring value and relevance of Goffman’s work."Sun Sun Lim, Singapore Management University"It is a paradox that Erving Goffman—the single most influential figure for scholars of digital life—treated media topics only sparingly. Peter Lunt, in the first work of its kind, explains how that came to be—and takes readers backstage, as it were, to show that Goffman’s lessons for media researchers are, even today, mostly untapped."Jefferson Pooley, Muhlenberg College