The Performance of Self

How the Demand for Authenticity Created a Crisis of Identity

By: Ruchir Saurabh

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Paperback | 1 September 2025

At a Glance

Paperback
122 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
21.59 x 13.97 x 0.74

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$18.69

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What does it mean to be "authentic" in a world where every moment feels like a performance?

In an age of Instagram confessions, corporate storytelling, and curated vulnerability, the demand for authenticity is relentless. We are urged to "be ourselves," yet rewarded only when our true selves fit the script audiences expect. The result is exhaustion: a society where identity is lived on stage, under invisible spotlights.

In this groundbreaking book, the author shows how our obsession with authenticity has paradoxically created a crisis of identity. Drawing on metaphors of the theatre - the stage, the masks, and the elusive backstage - they reveal how performance has infiltrated not only our public personas but also private lives. Professional spaces demand polish; relationships are shaped by digital audiences; even solitude is haunted by the pressure to narrate.

Yet within this crisis lies possibility. With clarity and insight, the author argues that reclaiming a private, unperformed self is not about withdrawal or cynicism, but about cultivating freedom, resilience, and meaning. This is not a call to abandon performance - it is an invitation to recognize it, reframe it, and refuse to let it consume us.

Bold, lyrical, and deeply relevant, this book is both cultural critique and guide for living meaningfully in a world where every act is watched, judged, and archived. It asks the most urgent question of our time: how do we remain human when life itself has become a stage?

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