THE RHETORIC OF CRITICISM: KENNETH BURKE'S DRAMATISM

This study attempts to reassemble in a coherent order Kenneth Burke's Dramatistic ideas about literary criticism. It is not a chronological summary of his books. It begins by examining the philosophical premises of Dramatism, from which Burke developed a theory of semantics. It proceeds to examine the ways Burke applied his semantic theory to the practice of literary criticism. Burke's concept of "language as symbolic action" is therefore explored as fundamental to the Dramatistic interpretation of literary structure. This interpretation is then seen as accounting for two dimensions in every literary work: an internal dimension, a disposition of key words promoting a principle of social order; and an external dimension, the proferring of a symbolic sacrifice to an audience, which enhances their emotional allegiance to that principle of social order. Burke's interpretations of individual literary works are then considered as attempts to reveal literature as an agency for social control. Specifically, Burke's analysis of Keats' "Ode on a Grecian Urn" is examined; it illustrates Burke's skeptical regard of literature's social role.;An assessment of Dramatism concludes this study. Burke's critical project is judged to be historically naive. Its object, to emancipate individuals through literary criticism from the forces of social coercion at work in literature, is judged to be unrealizable in contemporary society, due to the peripheral, if not adversarial, position of literature today. Although not recommended for its substance, Burke's Dramatism is recommended for its critical stance. Its awareness of its own ideological activity is commendable, as is its methodological thoroughness in grounding its ideological activity in a "philosophy of literary form." Due to its critical stance, Burke's Dramatism can be inspiring to literary studies today, even if it is recognized as historically misguided.