Goffman and the Media - (Theory and Media) by Peter Lunt

Book Synopsis

Erving Goffman's much-loved works are widely cited in media and communication studies. His books have stimulated research on news framing, mass media and social media, inviting new insights about how communication, self, audiences and public life are mediated by, but also transcend, particular technological forms. What explains the continuing relevance of this highly original theorist?

In this book, Peter Lunt critically examines how and why the concepts developed by Goffman - face-work and the mediated self, frontstage and backstage, impression management, media frames and logics, footing and interaction rituals - still resonate across the field. Ultimately, Goffman's sociology emerges not only as an enduring influence, but as a source of new inspiration in our ever more interactive world.

Original and incisive, Goffman and the Media is crucial reading for students and scholars encountering this fascinating thinker from a media studies perspective.

Review Quotes

"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

About the Author

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