Friday, March 26, 2010

V's Pick #9: A Rhetoric of Motives by Kenneth Burke

Did you know that "belonging is rhetorical" (28)? Burke's big point in A Rhetoric of Motives is that of identification, or, to be 'substantially one' (or to be persuaded to be) with another person or group based on commonality. To belong. This idea instantly made me think about discourse communities (or activity systems as Russell refers to them) -- groups that share common goals, a lexis and often unify on purposes. If identification is 'sharing substances' and 'substances' are physical objects, occupations, friends, activities, values, beliefs, etc...then identification is being part of an activity system. Burke uses the word 'consubstantial' (to be one with the other) as his term for this belonging within a system. 


Rhetoric is important in belonging for a few reasons. First, it provides a ground of persuasion of belonging - one can use rhetorical tools to get someone to join their cause/group, etc. Second, this belonging, if hidden (and not viewed rhetorically) can become sinister - hypocrisy is cunning and a form of identification. Rhetoric for Burke is both the use AND study of persuasive resources. He urges that we expand rhetoric to be able to look at how we operate rhetorically upon ourselves...but he's a pretty confusing dude and he also believes that rhetoric can be unconscious (which I agree with)...but unconscious rhetoric would be pretty hard to talk about in regard to yourself. 


In sum, identification can be used in 3 ways: 


1.) as a means to an end
2.) to create anthesis (against common foe)
3.) unconsciously/consciously


So what does all this mean in the big picture? I think it means that when we belong to a group (or even a pair) there's always something rhetorical happening - when we identify with something (see your voter's card) we are making rhetorical statements about WHO we are...but part of who we are is because we have been persuaded...in love, in voting, in our occupation, by our family, etc, etc, etc. 

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