Analysis of Dream of Tibet Based on Theatrical Metaphor in Goffman's Theory

Dream of Tibet is a novel written by Fariba Vafi in which the routine life of three women of two generations with three different identities is narrated. Sociologists who deal with analyzing literary works use different approaches in text analysis. One of the most important social theories is symbolic interactionism. While a theorist of symbolic interactionism pays attention to how people create an image of themselves and interact with it, Goffman deals with how the society forces people to present a specific image of themselves. Erving Goffman (1922-1982) is among the prominent sociologists who analyze interactions between people in daily life. To this end, he used theatrical metaphors. While presenting Goffman's theory, this paper investigates into the said novel based on his theories. According to Goffman's pattern, what we can say about Dream of Tibet is that though the female characters of this novel try to conceal stigma of a forbidden love, they cant succeed in performance on the stage