Goffman's Tempting the Devil in Stigma
A Close Rereading of Goffman's “Subversive” Construct of “the Normals” Versus “the Stigmatized”
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 24020331 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Thaddeus Müller (0000-0001-5593-6605, University of Lancashire, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Publication date | 2026-08-06 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Symbolic Interaction (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0195-6086 • E-ISSN: 1533-8665 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1002/symb.70066 |
| OpenAlex | W7197001780 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 30 |
This article engages in a close rereading of Stigma , relating it to Goffman's biography as a person who faced stigma. Exploring his biography helps us to recognize the ways Goffman applies stigma strategies in how he represents himself as the author in Stigma . I explain that the strategic ways in which he represents himself as the author can be understood by seeing them as “tricks of the trade” used by “the stigmatized,” and more specifically as “passing as fun,” which Goffman describes as “tempting the devil” or fooling “the normals.” This article aims to show that a key to an in‐depth understanding of Stigma lies in gaining insight into the multilayered and often ironic ways in which Goffman represents himself in relation to what he calls “the normals.” By exploring Goffman's semi‐hidden positionality, this article demonstrates that Goffman sides with “the stigmatized” while exposing their ordeal and the hegemonic force of the interaction order.
Biography · Construct (python library) · Hegemony · Reflexive pronoun · Relation (database) · Trial by ordeal · Contemporary Sociological Theory and Practice · Foucault, Power, and Ethics · Hermeneutics and Narrative Identity
Caring, Control, and Clinicians' Influence
Stigma Revisited
Stigma, the Moral Career of a Concept
On the Sociology and Social Organization of Stigma
Life as Theater
Disability Beyond Stigma
Shame on Us
Symbols of Class Status
What is Wrong with Social Theory
Stigma power
HIV and Aids-related stigma and discrimination
Black and Jewish
Resituating Erving Goffman
Goffman's Biography and the Interaction Order
Close Reading and Thin Description
A Partisan View
On Fieldwork
Doing/Undoing Stigma
Humour and Embarrassment
Conceptualizing Stigma
"Du Bois, double consciousness, and the "Jewish question
Role models and role distance
On Erving Goffmann
When Erving Goffman Was a Boy
Interfacing Biography, Theory and History
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |