Title of the course:

Goffman and the social impact of stigma

The term stigma and its synonymous offer a double perspective: does the stigmatized subject assume that his own diversity might be already known and visually evident? Or does he believe that it might be neither known by observers, nor perceptible? In the first instance the individual deals with the destiny of the discredited, in the second, he copes with the fate of the discreditable. As a matter of fact, the stigma is a particular relationship between the attribute and the stereotype (even though some important attributes may engender forms of discredit in our society).
Information is reflected and embodied by the subject, as well as the sign through which it is relayed. This is why information are transmitted just by the individual and by means of a corporeal expression, in the immediate presence of those who receive that message. Hence follows the strategic role that the dialectic between backstage and proscenium has in Goffman’s sociology, aimed to describe the interactional dynamics of daily life - conceived as a representation.