Dramatism Of Kenneth Burke

Kenneth Burke Critic- believed that language is a strategic human response to a specific situation: “Verbal symbols are meaningful acts from which motives can be derived.” Dramatism was Burke’s favorite word to describe what he saw going on when people open their mouths to communicate

Life is Drama http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B32yjbCSVpU Story Song- a part in the drama rather than the role of a passive listener Identification, dramatistic pentad, and guilt-redemption cycle Ways to analyze public address and other forms of symbolic action

Without it, there is no persuasion: The recognized common ground between speaker and audience, such as physical characteristics, talents, occupation, experiences, personality, beliefs, and attitudes: consubstantiation Identification

Substance An umbrella term to describe a person’s physical characteristics, talents, occupation, experiences, personality, beliefs, and attitudes Consubstantiation-theological reference Giving signs in language and delivery that his properties are the same as theirs Audiences sense a joining of interests through style as much as through content

Identification cont. Works both ways Audience adaptation Identification in either direction will never be complete Without some kind of division in the first place, there would be no need for identification. Without identification, there is no persuasion

Dramatistic Pentad http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYjpjVDG6zs

A tool to analyze how a speaker attempts to get an audience to accept his or her view of reality by using five key elements of the human drama- act, scene, agent, agency, and purpose Dramatistic pentad

God term- the word a speaker uses to which all other positive words are subservient Devil term- the word a speaker uses that sums up all that is regarded as bad, wrong, or evil

Act Scene Agency Agent Purpose Response Situation Subject Stimulus Target Top-assumes a world of intentional action Bottom-describe motion without intention or purpose

DP Offers a way to determine why the speaker selected a given rhetorical strategy to identify with the audience. When a message stresses one element over the other four, it reveals the speaker’s philosophy or worldview. The pentad can be seen as offering a static photograph of a single scene in the human drama

DP Defined Act- a critic’s label for the act illustrates what was done. A speech that features dramatic verbs demonstrates a commitment to realism. Scene- The description of the scene gives a context for where and when the act was performed. Public speaking that emphasizes setting and circumstance, downplays free will, and reflects an attitude of situational determinism.

Agent/ Agency Agent- the agent is the person or people who performed the act. Some messages are filled with references to self, mind, spirit, and personal responsibility. The focus on character and the agent as instigator is consistent with philosophical idealism. Agency- Agency is the means the agent used to do the deed. A long description of methods or technique reflects a “get the job done” approach that spring from the speaker's mindset of pragmatism

Purpose The speaker’s purpose is the stated or implied goal of the address. An extended discussion of purpose within the message who's a strong desire on the part of the speaker for unity or ultimate meaning in life, which are common concerns of mysticism.

Activity Time http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufoUtoQLGQY&feature=fvwrel

Questions to Ask What happened? What is the action? What is going on? Where is the act happening? What is the background situation? Who is involved in the action? What are their roles? How do the agents act? By what means do they act? Why do the agents act? What do they want?

Activity Time http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/155077/ginger-pride-conference

Questions to Ask What happened? What is the action? What is going on? Where is the act happening? What is the background situation? Who is involved in the action? What are their roles? How do the agents act? By what means do they act? Why do the agents act? What do they want?

Man is The symbol-using inventor of the negative Separated from his natural condition by instruments Of his own making Goaded by the spirit of hierarchy And rotten with perfection

Capacity to manipulate symbols in not an unmixed blessing Animal nature Capacity to manipulate symbols in not an unmixed blessing Only through man-made language that the possibility of choice comes into being Human as a tool using animal Always feel a strong sense of embarrassment for not having done better Perspective by incongruity- Admirable drive to do thing perfectly can hurt us and others in the process

Guilt Redemption Cycle The Root of All Rhetoric Ultimate motivation of all rhetoric is to purge ourselves of an ever present, all inclusive sense of guilt. Guilt- Burke’s catchall term for tension, anxiety, embarrassment, shame, disgust, and other noxious feelings intrinsic to the human condition.

Redemption Through Victimage Mortification- confession of guilt and request of forgiveness Much easier to blame problems on someone else Victimage- scapegoating; the process of naming an external enemy as the source of all personal or public ills People uniting against a common enemy “Congregation through segregation” The easiest way for an orator to identify with an audience is to lash out at whatever or whomever the people fear.

Critiques Burkes was closely tied to symbolic interactionism Complexity seems to be characteristic of much of the writing within that tradition Strategies of redemption His “secular religion” takes God too seriously for those who don’t believe, yet not seriously enough for those who do. Trouble with the unsubstantiated assumption that guilt is the primary human emotion that underlies all symbolic action