Communicating and Organizing in Context

9

GOFFMAN'S FRAMING OFINTERACTION

In Chapter 8, we examined the basic aspects of Goffman's frames as a knowledge system—what the various components of frames are, how they build upon and layer one another, and how they change. In this chapter, we shall explore how Goffman used frames to build a model of interaction. Here, we shall look at how frames are used to negotiate shared meanings in encounters. We shall explore interactional processes and devices, as well as Goffman's concepts of self and face, which are central to interaction. Thus, our emphasis here is upon frames-in-use.

While frames reflect the cognitive, contextual, tacit knowledge aspects of human experience, social practices, as frames, guide interaction. In what follows, we shall ...