Kenneth Burke's approach to language and theory construction Item Type text; Thesis-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Archias, Susan Dana, 1953- Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 23/09/2021 18:04:12 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/276653 INFORMATION TO USERS This reproduction was made from a copy of a document sent to us for microfilming. While the most advanced technology has been used to photograph and reproduce this document, the quality of the reproduction is heavily dependent upon the quality of the material submitted. The following explanation of techniques is provided to help clarify markings or notations which may appear on this reproduction. 1. 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Other UMI KENNETH BURKE'S APPROACH TO LANGUAGE AND THEORY CONSTRUCTION by Susan Dana Archias Copyright © Susan Dana Archias 1988 A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATION In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 1988 2 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This thesis has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this thesis are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in put may be granted by the copyright holder. SIGNED APPROVAL BY THESIS DIRECTOR This thesis has been approved on the date shown below: Henry L. Ewbank, Professor of Communication ' DatP 3 Acknowledgments My thanks go to Dr. Henry L. Ewbank, Dr. William E. Bailey, and Dr. David A. Williams for supporting the independent nature of this project, and for providing the practical guidance I needed to facilitate both the process and the clarity of my analysis. Table of Contents Abstract Introduction Basic Theoretical Orientation and Problematic Terminology 1 The Metaphysics of Kenneth Bui&e 2 Ontology Into Epistemology, One "Way In" 2 Epistemology Into Ontology 3 The Dialectics of Analogy 3 Freedom, Necessity, and Priorities .3 Theoretical Refinement: Pro forma 3 Recognition of the Prototype "Act" 3 Paradigm For Action 3 Within the Religious Paradigm: The Logological Project 4 Guidelines for Theoretical Refinement 4 Partial Survey of Prototypes and Ratios 5 Super-Nature and Humcin Nature: Limitations of the Symbol-User 5 Narrative and Tautological Explanation 7 Logical Conversion 1 Form and Explanation in Genesis 8 Conclusion: Metaphysical and Dialectical Motivation 9 References 9 5 Abstract This thesis explains the "systematic" refinement of Kenneth Burke's theoretical process through his development of a theological paradigm for the dramatistic vocabulary. It describes the merging metaphysical and dialectical issues in Burke's critical thought and locates a theoretical shift in A Grammar of Motives, where Burke posits the prototype for his key term, "act." The study then interprets the formal treatment of the prototype in The Rhetoric of Religion; Studies in Logology, and demonstrates how the derived paradigm maintains and advances the convergence of metaphysics and dialectics, and how it reestablishes the interaction between language structure and usage in two types of definition or explanation (temporal-logical, narrative-tautological). This thesis also describes the purpose and functioned range of Logology. 6 Introduction Kenneth Burke's theoretical predilection led him into an expansive project of theory building such that the labyrinth of his textual meanderings has left for many an impression of impenetrable complexity and contradiction. This may be due in part to the range of literary, historical, theological, and philosophical allusions that mound up, juxtaposed, during the process of Burke's critical thought. It is probably more the result of his proclivity toward a metamorphoric vocabulary. Internal consistency in theory construction is understandably suspect when the reader must deal with a nonstable terminology. Revolving around Burke's fundamental pentadic vocabulary is a daunting constellation of continually evolving terms that may, even in the span of one essay, show up in ostensibly contradictory usage. In the context of this thesis, Burke's Dramatism and Logology are treated as metatheory, as opposed to substantive theory. Hawes (1975, p. 46, 47), notes that "such theory contains the greatest number of statements; consequently it is said to be the least parsimonious. ... His thinking represents a basic theory or viewpoint; it takes the form of a system of interrelated principles ... ." The nature of the terminological developments in Kenneth Burke's work represent appropriately the nature of his beliefs about the way we define, develop, and use vocabularies — both theoretically and normatively — to explain our behaviors and our environment, and on a more abstract level, about the way we perceive and articulate our state of being and our methods of knowing. In other words, Burke's beliefs about language behavior and metaphysics are very consciously and systematically infused in his own theoretical language. Burke practices what he preaches and confronts directly the issue of a nonstandardized terminology. He notes of the body of theory he referred to as 7 "Dramatism," that "It is not the purpose of our Dramatism to abide strictly by any one system of philosophic terms that happens to exemplify the dramatist pattern" (Burke, 1969, p. 67-8). This attitude derives from the notion that words do not precisely represent thoughts and things. Because no two things, acts, or situations are exactly alike, the same term applied to each introduces "a certain ambiguity" (p. xix), and all of the resulting "transcendences," or "titles," "ultimate terms," or "god-terms," as representational substitutions, are in some sense therefore, false (p. 319-320). The affirmation of a given term "enables men to go far afield without sensing a loss of orientation. And by the time the extent of their departure is enough to become generally obvious, the stability of the new order they have built in the name of the old order gives them the strength to abandon their old god- term and adopt another" (Burke, 1969, p. 54). This is one manner in which Burke describes the process of substitution and analogy and the possible misapplication of language to situation. Our use of language is substitutional or analogic in nature; linguistic structure is itself substitutive or analogic in character. Substitution and analogy introduce the continual potential for ambiguity. According to Burke, the grammatical ambiguity of language allows us to supply context variably to confusing phenomena and communicative transactions, to attribute motives in a posteriori fashion, to name or label our actions in retrospect. It also allows us to communicate persuasively through an obfuscation of the "ground" where Burke suggests all descriptive possibilities are merged.