Afterword: Maps, Masks, Meshes, Misses, and More: Metaphors in Search of Understanding Erving Goffman and Society

Summary

Introduction

The meticulous scholar, mindful of the need to know the literature on a topic and wanting to have something fresh to say, must tremble in the face of writing about anyone with 377,959 citations in Google Scholar (as of February 15, 2022). Only the intrepid, overconfident, or the retired with no reputation left to lose would dare to do so, at least not without a note from their mother.

Erving Goffman was a brilliant metaphorician (if there isn’t such a word, there should be!). Keeping with the “M” alliteration a few more: messes, mendacity, morality, magic, and mystery apply as well. The laser-like precision and evocative richness of his concepts and illustrations are central to his insights and impact.

In the fine articles in this volume, and in the secondary literature, among the main ways Goffman has been characterized are shown in Table 1:

In the beginning, there are the questions. How has the distribution of such characterizations of Goffman changed over the last many decades across time, contexts, and places? Apart from Goffman per se, what do they say about the characteristics, goals, time periods, and location of the characterizers? Most importantly, what do they say about understanding society?

Drawing on the chapter included in this present book, Goffman’s own work, the Goffman archives (Shalin 2007), the enormous secondary literature and personal experiences with him and several of his University of Chicago cohort over decades, I here offer thoughts on some implications of his work and life.

Maps

Central to Goffman’s brilliance was cartography. He was the penultimate map maker. Despite the obvious limits in any concept chosen, they are fundamental to scholarship. In one of his final publications, he wrote:

I believe that the provision of a single conceptual distinction, if it orders, and illuminates, and reflects delight in the contours of our data, can warrant our claim to be students of society. (Goffman 1981, 4)

In this call, we potentially find a splendid, large, warm tent with room for all the children: the qualitative and quantitative, descriptive and explanatory theories, structure, function, and process.