Rhetoric Society Quarterly Jan 1997

“It's essentially as though this were killing us”: Kenneth burke on mortification and pedagogy

Ellen Quandahl San Diego State University

Abstract

[A]ll. . . transcending of the thing by its name is toward death. And in this sense, even the most vital of language is intrinsically deathy. It is a realm of essence such that, without the warm blood of live bodies to feed it, it cannot truly exist. The spirit of all symbol systems could be said to transcend the body in this sense, taking on a dimension that can also be named by our good word for death: immortality. (Language as Symbolic Action 342)

Journal
Rhetoric Society Quarterly
Published
1997-01-01
DOI
10.1080/02773949709391085
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Topics
modern rhetorical theory writing pedagogy
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