Frontstage vs. Backstage

Today I decided to go to a casual café, one that is considered a place where middle-class people go. I wanted to analyze it using the dramaturgy theory. This theory states that organizations can be examined like plays or movies. They have a setting, actors, roles, an audience, forestage and backstage behaviors. I went to a café called Bayt Al-Shami.

I observed peoples’ behaviors, the customers, and the waiters. I listened in on their conversations and I observed their behaviors.

In Grazian’s chapter about interaction theory, he talks about the fact that culture is determined by the social contexts in which we interact with others.

In a cultural context such as the one I was in today, there are certain norms and behaviors I expected to see, and others I didn’t expect to see. For example I expected to see middle-class people, behave moderately classy, yet not as classy as what I would expect someone to behave in a hotel. The norm would be for them to, not yell in the middle of the restaurant, yet not whisper in order for them to be classy.

The setting was a very regular setting, casual middle-eastern seating, low Arabic music playing in the background, and mixed gendered groups of people sitting together, whether they were friends or family.



The front stage behavior, which is the behavior that takes place where it is visible to the audience, i.e. the customers in the restaurant, was also very predictable. People are socialized to act a certain way based on the setting they are in, and for a place like this, it was normal to see children running around, and people occasionally getting loud.



As for the waiters, they’re expected to occasionally hover, to be polite, however, they’re not expected to be as professional as classy as waiters are in a hotel restaurant, and not as trashy as they are in a cheap “guy sheesha” places. Which is also what I observed in the front stage.



The back stage behavior was particularly interesting. I got close to the kitchen area and snapped a few pictures hoping one of them would be slightly clear, and I hovered a little to listen in on their conversations.



Some were yelling, some were laughing really loudly, and one of them was sing Baby for Justin Bieber, as his friends were huddled around him.

The drastic change between front stage and back stage definitely proved that the setting really does determine peoples’ behaviors.

Let’s Play the Subculture Game

Souq waqif in Doha, Qatar, is one of the most common places residents go to enjoy traditional food, ranging from Syrian, Italian, Iranian and Lebanese, and to enjoy a good shisha in one of the numerous cafes and restaurants.Souq waqif is a main attraction for tourists because of its “authentic” architecture, souvenir shops and the random stands where people sell handcrafted ornaments or homemade food. The people who work in the stands dress in traditional clothing and focus at the activity they have to engage in.

In front of Damasca, a man dresses in Indian attire sells jewelry, and makes bracelets in front of you if you want a particular design. He is dressed in a specific clothing style and he has particular way of talking, as he knows terms that are specific to the jewelry-making community, but is this man part of a subculture?

In sociology, subculture is defined as a smaller group within the larger society that can be differentiated by some unique aspects of its behavior, such as clothing styles, linguistic usage or beliefs and values. To answer my previous question, no, just because the man dresses and speaks in a different way, does not make him part of a subculture, but he does engage in a performance of some sort. If I were to consider a group of professional jewelry makers in Qatar who have designs that have demonic symbols on them, then that would be a subculture. That would be because they would be going against the parent culture of religion, and because subcultures are always in some way non-conforming or dissenting.

A performance is the execution or accomplishment of work, acts or feats, and it is an action or proceeding of an unusual or spectacular type. The people who work at the different booths at Souq Waqif are all part of a performance, but their actions could be better defined by the concept of dramaturgy. The front stage consists of them selling traditional clothes, food or ornaments and perhaps making them in front of their audience, as they are dressed in traditional clothing and speak about their craft very specifically. Back stage however, there is all their suppliers and business partners who actually equip them with the finished products.

Expression of Fashion or Subculture ?

The concept of dramaturgy and subcultures are almost intertwined. From previous knowledge and from class discussions, I decided to visit an English speaking school to see if there was any sort of subculture or if I could apply the sociological concepts I learnt in class. I decided to visit a high school, keeping in mind that most youth subcultures are formed when they are separated from their primary socializers, their family, and not under the influence of the dominant culture. Therefore, for this blog post, I wanted to study whether there was a subculture amongst the students from the way most Muslim girls wore their school uniforms and adapted to a westernized environment.

As I was walking through the playgrounds at break time, I noticed how most Muslim girls had their hairs covered with the hijab. The normal school uniform was a polo shirt and a pair of trousers. The girls wore both long skirts and long sleeves, or simply long sleeved shirts with pants. In a sociological perspective, this can be seen as a bricolage. In this case, bricolage is how the young girls adapt to the western style fashion, but at the same time respect their religious beliefs by wearing the hijab.

The theory of commodity was present as Dick Hebdige describes it as “the conversion of subcultural signs into mass-produced objects.” It was tough to determine if the girls were expressing their sense of modesty in Islamic clothing, or conveying their sense of belonging to a certain subculture. Some of the girls had hipster looking glasses, converse shoes and even wore revealing clothing with their hijab on. Some also wore high-rise leggings with their uniform tucked in, which could be another indication of a hipster style.

On the other hand, some girls were holding designer accessories, for example; Chanel, Gucci and Burberry handbags, while others were wearing punk looking bracelets and shoes with spikes on them.  In the end, it is up to us to decide if they belong to a certain subculture, or whether its jut a form of commodity Hebdige refers to.

The world is mediated. In other words, corporations and the media normalize what was once a shock to us. Probably, the way most of the girls were dressed was once considered socially unacceptable, but through media and the fashion industry, these forms of clothing have become acceptable and normalized. Nowadays it is not out of the ordinary for a Qatari girl to wear revealing clothing, where it was contemplated deviant two years ago.

If I were to apply the dramaturgy theory by Erving Goffman, I would say that these girls are all actors on the front stage of a theater. In this case, the stage would be the school. The students, principals, cleaners, security and the teachers are the actors playing set character roles as part of their performances. The students managed their setting, clothing, language, and gestures to correspond the image they tried to project. Nevertheless, this is impression management. For instance, the girls were presented differently on front stage than if they were to be in their comfort zone, the back stage. At one point, the girls took off the hijab and started singing when they were in the classroom alone, and put on their hijab and acted all reserved once they walked out.

The female students could be part of a larger subculture or they could just be consumers of style through the mediated world. 

Filmmakers Playing The Part

Another weekend was wasted on shooting a cinematography project with my group. I realized that the group of people I was working with were taking part in a performance of sorts. As communication students at Northwestern University in Qatar, we are made to take such courses that expose us to the façade that is the dynamics of a film set.

I’ll explain the play that students take part in through the events of this weekend. This group of students behave according to the social norms of film sets. Sometimes, some like to think they are Martin Scorsese and live in the moment. The interactions that take place amongst us can be explained through the use of Dramaturgy. It was obvious that through the media we consumed, we assumed we knew the obligations that each role on a film set was to take on. Dramaturgy includes the following aspects: setting, actors, audience, roles.

First, you have the clothes we wear. The clothes can be seen as part of the setting. Looking at the people around me I realize they aren’t dressed to the nines. In fact, they are dressed quite nicely, but in a very practical way. They wore jeans, T-shirt, and closed-toe shoes. They wear these clothes because they need to be able to move around, carry heavy boxes, and not have to worry about their clothes getting caught in the equipment. Also, the girls’ hair was tied up because, as every girl knows, there’s nothing more annoying that your hair sticking to the back of your neck.

The setting for this particular group is the actual university campus, but due to the nature of the work the setting varies depending on the setting used for filming. Our project took us to a coffee shop, the exhibition center, a park, and a beach. All these different settings have an effect on the story, and on the actual amount of work that students have to put in to adapt to various situations.

I like to think that there are two audiences for this group. First you have those who will show up to the screening of the film, and then those who are gawking at you while you’re trying to shoot in the middle of a coffee shop. The first type are the ones that the filmmakers want to please, and the others are just staring because it’s not normal to see three Qatari girls in an Abaya directing actors and attempting to lift heavy boxes.

As for the actors there are two of them, as well. There are the actors used in the film, and then we, the actual filmmakers are the ones who are acting out the roles we are each assigned. As the students taking on the task of putting this project together we try to show the people we are working with that we know what we are doing.

As budding filmmakers we need to know the lingo of the business. The way of speaking is part to authenticating the role. These words and terms that are used excessively on set, and when discussing other films are our own version of medical jargon. It is a specific way to talk when on set working on a project, but as I said it spills over into daily life situations when discussing with people outside the group. Sometimes one has to stop in order to explain what MOS means, explain how ramping works, or argue whether they preferred low key to high key for a their bedroom lighting. The way that we speak reflects the level of intellect that we have, and in some cases it’s all made up to sound artistic.

The roles of members are variable. There are dozens of different film roles that take place on a film set. Sometimes the role might include them taking on the position of director, and other times the gaffer. It depends on the situations and the actual head behind the production that takes taking place. As students we try to alternate between the roles as to get to try on the different masks of filmmaking. However, sometimes some people seem to claim a mask to themselves and decide they are going to be the next Quinton Tarantino.

Despite not being that into filmmaking myself, I have great respect towards those who do. The members of the group are some of the most hardworking, and helpful people I have encountered in my life. It was interesting to see that in order to put together a film, you had to pretend to be part of another.

Dramaturgy: Abaya and Shayla vs. Public and Private Locale

The society we live in can be portrayed as a play. We are all the actors.

Erving Goffman first established this dramaturgical theory. Dramaturgical theory is basically a model in which our social interaction is viewed as if we were in a theatre, the people would be the actors, and our roles in society would be the performances. But that is not it. The more crucial part is the way we carry ourselves in social situations to reach our goals by using impression management.

The theory of Dramaturgy can be applied to nearly every interactive scene in our life in Qatar. A great example could be how Qatari girls act when they have their abaya and shayla on in public spaces and when they take it off in more private locale. 

In order to carry this experiment out, I decided to go for a walk around the cafeteria at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar and the more private spaces in the university. From Goffman’s perspective, he uses the terminologies of ‘backstage’ and ‘front stage’ to describe this behaviour. By front stage, his stating the visible behaviour we have, where we take care of how we act and conserve our persona. Backstage behaviour would be when we get to do things that would be inappropriate by the public and the societal norms of the particular setting. I noticed how the girls in the cafeteria were more preserved around men and strangers, whereas, if they were in the private conference rooms in the library, they would have taken off their shayla and acted more inappropriate. For example, the girls at the cafeteria who were wearing their abaya and shayla spoke more softly and delicately, whereas the girls in the more private locale were louder and free.

Lastly and ironically enough, culture is created and consumed through our social interactions. And in this case, our interactions are with our friends, family members and colleagues.

Desi Subculture in EC

The general population of Qatar is mostly comprised of Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and others from the Indian subcontinent, which is about 50% of the total population. Even in Education City, a majority of the student population comes from the Indian subcontinent and commonly referred to as "Desis". A big event that is going to take place in Education City (EC) next week is Desi Night which is an event that showcases the talents of various desi students which includes singing; dancing and stand-up comedy. 

For the Youth Culture in the Middle East course, the class discussed about how interaction plays a huge role in the development of subculture. According to Grazian, culture is conditioned by interaction and the context about which it revolves. We also discussed about using the dramaturgy approach to analyze subcultures. Hence, I noticed that the dramaturgy approach could be used for the Desi Night to examine the desi subculture in Education City. So, I wiil be applying this approach for Desi Night 2011 that took place last year.The five important elements that need to be considered while using the dramaturgy approach are – Actors; setting; roles; audience; front stage and backstage behavior.

Actors – The actors for this particular event included all the desi students of EC. For this particular event, all the EC students who performed the various desi songs and dances were the actors. The facilitators of the event that included the VCUQ student government association can also be grouped as actors. (Not surprisingly, the VCUQ student government association is completely comprised of desi students)

Roles – The roles includes the roles taken up by the various actors for this event. This includes performers who put on the show and facilitators who were in charge of making sure that the event took place smoothly; the MCs who ensured the smooth transition from one performance to next.

                                                                        The main MC   

Setting – The setting for this event was in VCUQ lounge. Every year, it is held there as it can provide space for a large number of people up to 50 students.

Audience – The audience includes all those people who attended the event which includes various students from EC; guest students from universities outside EC and families of the performers.

Front stage and backstage behavior – The front stage behavior includes the performances put n by the actors such a singing, dancing and stand up comedy.

The backstage behavior includes the actions of those facilitators who helped around the event such as taking care of the caterer; helping out the performers in changing costumes; providing materials for the MC for the order of events.

After observing the event through these elements, it becomes obvious that interaction is the link that joins all the elements together that contributes to the Desi subculture in EC. For example, there are a lot of groups that are segregated on the basis of their nationality. However, for this event, people from various countries were involved in dance performances together. This would not have been possible without interaction which includes word of mouth communication Even in the audience, you could see groups of students that would not usually interact outside would interact and comment on performances together.

It is interesting how these events act as platforms of impact on the Desi subculture in EC.

Church City in Qatar

This Sunday, almost like every other Sunday evening, I drove all the way to the Mesaimeer area, in which the Church City or Church Complex is located. As usual, there was a huge traffic jam and there were too many policemen around who were trying to redirect the traffic in different directions and resolve the issue. The roads nearby are still under construction and this was causing a lot of trouble to church goers and more importantly, for the residents of the Barwa Housing Complex which is located nearby. While I was waiting for the traffic to clear, I just thought about how things were in the past and how things had changed over the last 5 years.

Inside the Catholic church in Qatar

Flashback to year 2000, and I remember going to small villas and houses for Church and Catechism classes. At that time, there wasn't a definite location set for the church and there wasn't a proper setup for conducting religious classes as well. To be honest, even talking about the Church or the idea of having a large space dedicated for practicing Christianity was doubtful. It was almost impossible to see a Christmas tree around in the malls or Santa Claus costumes for sale. Last winter, I remember the huge Christmas tree that was erected in the City Center mall and I saw so many Santa Claus costumes for sale at various malls. So how did this happen? I mean there was a drastic change and it happened sequentially.

Interaction between communities:
In the readings in the sociology class, we read about Grazian's theory of interaction. He mentions that culture is to some extent conditioned by interaction and the context that surrounds it. Over the last decade, there has been a strong influx of expatriates from various nations. A vast majority of the expatriate population in Qatar today comes from the South Asia, particularly the Philippines. Moreover, there are large Christian members from Western countries, some African nations and also from Southern India. It is perhaps the interaction between these cultures and the predominant Muslim culture in Qatar that led to a better understanding and the permission from the government to go ahead and build the Church.


Globalization:
With the entry of several global corporations into Qatar, there have been so many high level/executive level professionals entering into the country. A growing country like Qatar does need to keep up to the standards of other international countries in order to cater to international customers, corporations and clients. In fact, the organization of the Asian Games in Doha, 2006 perhaps triggered the need for the establishment of a church complex. While bidding to host key tournaments such as the World Cup, Olympics etc., these are some aspects that the judging committee would evaluate the country on. So there is definitely a capitalistic idea of growth behind it as well. Now that the FIFA World Cup 2022 has been awarded to Qatar, it's only fitting that the nation provides services for all the diverse communities in Qatar.


Communication:
After attending the church session (mass), I wandered into a nearby building in the complex. I noticed that there was an Arabic service going on at that time. It was really interesting to see a fairly large Arabic speaking community in the church. There are many Christians in the Arab countries such as Lebanon, Syria, Egypt etc. On the church website, one can find the timings of the various masses and the different languages they are being offered in.
http://www.rosarychurchqatar.com/mass.php?pg=timings

There are masses in English, Spanish, Arabic, French, Tamil, Tagalog, Sinhala, Malayalam etc. There are various subcultural groups that exist within this complex. The whole group of Christians in Qatar can be seen the complex and yet there are special areas in the complex assigned for each group. However, there are special occasions in which all communities get together to celebrate mass together. The picture below was taken on one such occasion where two Indian Catholics can be seen alongside Indonesian Catholic members.

        

During the church inauguration 

Dramaturgy:
The term is defined as a theory by which organizations or groups can be examined like plays or movies. In this case, the entire setting of the church before a service begins can be seen as the arena. The priest and the alter servers can be looked at as the stage. They play various roles during the service. Also, the religious members present in the church make up the audience of the 'drama'. Additionally, there is the church choir for the music aspect of it.


Below is a video taken during the occasion of "Holy Communion" which was a function common to all Catholics regardless of their language/ethnicity etc.

Within all these, I looked closely at the identities of the individuals present there. In my opinion, the members attending the regional language services were making a strong point about their identity; for instance, their identity as Arab Christians or Indian Christians. In the reading about the Identity Expression on Facebook earlier this week, we discussed that personal identity is different from group identity in the way that we define the features. A group/subcultural identity is formed and developed by the heads of groups or a group of accomplished members rather than by an individual.

The major change in Qatar took place during the last decade, in which the society and the government in general has become more tolerant and open towards different cultures and religions. This is a good sign, especially since a large proportion of the population is made up of expatriates. The government has thus far done a good job in catering to the needs of the expatriate community without harming the needs and preferences of the local population as well.