Interaction Rituals (Book)

Interaction Rituals: Essays on Face-to-Face Behavior (original title: Interaction Ritual: Essays in Face-to-Face Behavior), written by Erving Goffman and published in 1967, is an investigation into face-to-face interaction in natural settings—the events that occur when people are together and through this togetherness. The primary behaviors examined are the glances, gestures, postures, and verbal expressions that individuals consistently employ, whether intentionally or unintentionally, in various situations.

In this work, Goffman defends the sociology of situations. The central focus is social organization, but the organized entity is not a permanent structure; rather, it consists of individuals’ encounters with one another and the transient interactional efforts that arise from them. A normatively fixed order is present. Social collectivity is defined as a variable phenomenon that emerges when people come together and dissolves when they separate.

The central section of the book, titled “The Situation as the Center of Action,” draws on Goffman’s observations in a casino in Nevada. Gambling is treated as a type of encounter in which the self is presented and put at risk. This presentation is expressed as a symbol of the actor’s emotional investment in the interaction.

The first five articles in the book are arranged in the order of their original publication, with minor editorial adjustments. The sixth article is published for the first time in this volume. The work is noted for focusing on a general theme of interest to ethnographers.

The subject of the research is the totality of events that occur when individuals are together and as a result of their co-presence. The fundamental behavioral sources are glances, gestures, postures, and verbal expressions. These elements are defined as visible indicators of orientation and participation.

Although this domain has not yet been assigned a specific name, it encompasses events that are limited in time and space. Two objectives are identified in the study: first, to define units of natural interaction ranging from brief facial displays to prolonged social activities; second, to uncover the normative order that governs these units both within and between them.

Goffman examines the emotional tones that govern interaction, noting that the self is emotionally vulnerable yet capable of being filled with excitement. According to him, interactions carry risks such as failure, exposure, and rejection, but they also hold the promise of reward if these risks are overcome.

The book explores both the vulnerable and the exhilarating dimensions of the self. It demonstrates that these two aspects shape different dimensions of human life and that interaction rituals shape the most ordinary and smallest-scale activities among people.