Kenneth Burke: 2MinuteThinker

A 2 Minute Summary of theorist/critic Kenneth Burke
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Transcript:

Humans are the symbol-using animals. Or so says Kenneth Burke. They are also symbol making and mis-using animals, inventors of the negative, separated from their natural conditions by instruments of their own making, goaded by the spirit of hierarchy, and rotten with perfection.

When we talk about what humans do in relation to one another, we are talking with the language of purposeful Action, not the automatic Motion of animals and nature. And when we talk about the motives behind these actions, we are speaking through 5 components -- the grammar that Burke called the Dramatistic Pentad. This grammatical pentad in Burke's dramatism includes Act, Scene, Agent, Agency, and Purpose. An analysis of motive might be primarily focused on the purpose of the action, or who the agent was... or perhaps it will be more nuanced and explore the provocative relationship between these parts -- to see, for instance, the ratio of scene to act and how one influences our perceptions of the other and thus our interpretation of the motive.

The symbolic language we employ radically shapes our understanding of the world -- our Orientation toward particular and global realities. Rhetorical language choices not only allow us to identify with others, sharing a certain substance with them, but language is so powerful that it also create divisions between us and them, induces us to follow alluring form, establishes hierarchies with god and devil terms, cleanses guilt and places it onto a scapegoat, instills a trained incapacity because of occupational tunnel vision, and much more. According to Burke, we must embrace new rhetorical and poetic terminologies that introduce incongruities and comedic spaces, stretching representative anecdotes, debunking old divisions and opening up new possibilities.

Now, Kenneth Burke thought and wrote about much much more -- Shakespeare, art, music, novels, technology, and even discussed how his fellow "communists" could embrace an inclusive view of aesthetics. He had a very artistic and creative side, writing ironically about moon colonies and penning short stories, and also was a real pragmatist and did close readings of the effect of Hitler's rhetoric. He rubbed shoulders with quite a crowd -- from Malcom Cowley and William Carlos Williams to I.A. Richards and John Dewey.

But our 2 minutes is up. So for now, this is your 2 Minute Thinker -- Kenneth Burke [, Kenneth Burke, Kenneth Burke].

[words/animation by StephenJLind (c) // music by Matteo Venturelli - iMe/"Deja Vu" (cc)]

Category:

Education

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• 2MT
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• Kenneth Burke
• rhetoric
• dramatism
• dramatistic
• pentad
• definition of man
• symbol
• communication
• language
• philosophy
• Shakespeare
• communism
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[2MinuteThinker]

@santosilver Thanks! We hope others will submit videos to 2MT also! Can't wait to see more user content :)

[santosilver]

nice work. I definitely couldn't have covered Burke better in two minutes. This was very cool, with some interesting footage too.