Conclusion

In our analysis of the Texan accent, we applied Erving Goffman’s dramaturgy theory to analyze the presentation of self through dialect. Under this theory, “He [Goffman] argued that life is a play-a play with a moral of sorts. And that moral is what Goffman and soial psychologists call “impression management” (Conley 134). In other words, we are all actors trying to convince our audiences of our role using props, scripts, costumes, and sets. For Texans, we often use our accent as a prop to convince others of our roles as Texans. However, there are some situations in which we wish not to be judged by our role. We wish people to perceive us as a slightly better version than our natural selves. Goffman specifies that the selves we use when we are managing our impression act out our role on the “front stage,” while back stage our innate natural selves act much more comfortably. In this respect, the Texan accent seems to be more prevalent in the back stage of people’s performances. In situations where Texans do not wish to be judged by their accent, such as in a business environment, he or she will attempt to suppress it on the front stage.

In our research of the Texan accent, we discovered that the main misconceptions are linked to the ancestry of the state. Overall, it seems that because most of the settlers here worked as farmers, this has created a reputation for the residents in which most outsiders perceive common character traits that correlate to this occupation. Because of this, Texans on average seek to consciously change their presentation of self in order to influence people’s impression of them as non-farmers. They act out their roles on the front stage.