On Face-Work: An Analysis of Ritual Elements in Social Interaction – Erving Goffman

Details

Photo

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Name

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Field

Sociology / social psychology

Year

1955

One-line gist

Dissects all the little rituals we do to save face and help others save theirs in everyday interaction.

Best when

You’re replaying a slightly awkward meeting and wondering why that one comment landed so weirdly.

My take

Reads like the script notes for every office conversation ever. After this, you start seeing “face-work” in Slack threads and status updates, not just in dinner‑party faux pas.