Relatore: Professor Bruno OSIMO - Bruno Osimo, traduzioni ...

Goffman uses the notion of role distance ‘to refer to [the] actions which
effectively convey some disdainful detachment of the performer from a role he
is performing’ (1961: 110). In contrast, attachment to a role is described as
follows (1961: 89)
The self-image available for anyone entering a particular position
is one of which he may become affectively and cognitively enamoured,
desiring and expecting to see himself in terms of the enactment of the
role and the self-identification emerging form this enactment.
As a rule, people are attached to the roles they perform regularly. In fact,
Goffman points out that it is considered to be ‘sound mental hygiene for an
individual to be attached to the role he performs’ (1961: 89f.). However, on
some occasions it may be equally necessary, partly in terms of ‘mental
hygiene’, to express detachment from the role which is being performed (see
examples below).
Role distancing can be manifested by explanations, apologies or joking
which are, according to Goffman, ‘ways in which the individual makes a plea
for disqualifying some of the expressive features of the situation as sources of
definitions of himself’ (1961: 105). The reasons for expressing role distance,
i.e. the functions of role distancing, may vary greatly, depending on the role
performer and on the situation. Expressions of role distance may show a
general detachment of the role (‘This is not the real me’); alternatively, role
distance can also be a momentary escape from a role, to which the role
performer is in fact attached. The function of the latter kind of role distance
can be, for instance, to secure the functionability of a whole system of roles,
which Goffman calls ‘situated activity systems’, such as a surgical operation
(Goffman 1961: 126ff.).
52