A Sociological Look at Gaming Software: Erving Goffman’s Dramaturgy in Video Games

Abstract

This paper approaches video gaming issues through a genealogy that traces the links between video games and Erving Goffman’s theories, based on his use of metaphors. Interactions and social life are therefore understood as a performative space where roles are played out, and Goffman’s four metaphors (drama, ritual, frame and game) operate. A qualitative analysis methodology based on interviews and participant observation (both virtual and face-to-face) was used to gain an understanding of gaming culture, while also studying the more subtle underlying traits of gaming interaction. To do this, a journey through the stages, interactions, performativities and mechanisms of socialisation that are present in video games are proposed, something that is becoming increasingly more ubiquitous and relevant in sociological concerns and analyses.