The Gordian Not: Untangling the Motivorum (1)

KB Journal: The Journal of the Kenneth Burke Society Apr 2007 web Open Access

The Gordian Not: Untangling the Motivorum (1)

Abstract

This essay reconstructs Burke’s Symbolic and demonstrates its centrality to his system, arguing (1) nearly half of the Symbolic remains unpublished or uncollected, particularly two neglected essays on catharsis, the Symbolic ’s own central term and the philosophical (rather than simply literary) problem at the heart of Burke’s system, as it addresses the relationship between mind and body; (2) logology (his epistemology) and the Ethics were a outgrowth of, rather than a break from, dramatism (his ontology) and the Motivorum ; and (3) his Rhetoric , in contrast with his basically Aristotelian system (characterized in terms of naturalism, organicism, and pantheism), is Platonistic (consistent with his little noticed quietistic, mystical tendencies).

Journal: KB Journal: The Journal of the Kenneth Burke Society
Published: 2007-04
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Topics: modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism
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