While I am tempted to ask you whether Goffman is integrating symbolic interactionism with structural functionalism (feel free to take a stab at that if you are inclined), I think one week of metatheor

While I am tempted to ask you whether Goffman is integrating symbolic interactionism with structural functionalism (feel free to take a stab at that if you are inclined), I think one week of metatheory might be enough for an introductory theory class. So instead, I invite you to do a deeper dive into Goffman. When it comes to face-work, Goffman is adamant that it is something that every society does. Towards the end of the assigned chapter he entertains face-work as a cultural universal. Goffman also notes, however, that the techniques societies utilize to do face-work will vary. As he observes, “[e]ach person, subculture, and society seems to have its own characteristic repertoire of face-saving practices” (13). Face-saving work is therefore a universal that has particular manifestations that must be studied close up.Can you identify an example of face-work that you performed or that you watched others perform in a specific subculture (I don’t want to say “society” because chances are most of us may just end up discussing Canadian society)? Describe the incidence and identify the face-saving technique(s) with reference to Goffman.