Reflections Spring 2003 [antikvár]

From the Fouridirig Editor EDITORIAL One of the most powerful elements of culture is how the self is defined. Every culture develops powerful concepts that parents teach their children about what should and should not be one's self. These concepts become so ingrained and taken for granted that we are not aware of them unless they are challenged, as when someone treats us in a way that is insulting or embarrassing. What those incidents teli us is that the value that we have placed on ourselves is not reciprocated. Or what we think of ourselves has somehow been violated in the conversation. Threats to self-esteem are intrinsically painful because we want to maintain our illusions about ourselves. ¦ We have all been very well trained in how to be polite in conversations so as not to threaten anyone. We laugh at even the poorest jokes. We collectively ignore incidents such as someone's flatulence in a social gathering. Self-exposure is tricky yet necessary. When we talk of sincerity, integrity, congruence, and knowing where someone stands, we are in each case referring to various aspects of presentation of the self. In this issue, we explore various facets of self-presentation and its conse-quences, leading off with the classic analysis of "face-work" by the late Erving Goffman. Not all the articles have the dynamics of self as their central theme, but all are relevant. Stories, for instance, are powerful carriers of culture. In a story, the self can be made visible. We can identify with the characters and see ourselves through their eyes. When we get too abstract and conceptual, the self is still there but concealed, which makes it harder for our audiences to understand where we are coming from. Ed Schein