Burke Watching
A companion project to A Field Guide to Rhetorical Animals
Burke Watching
verb.
The practice of consciously wrangling with one another about our interpretations of the world.
The project of developing our rhetorical awareness and critical judgement.
The belief that Kenneth Burke’s rhetorical concepts can help us navigate the current moment.
The commitment to documenting and sharing the rhetorical phenomena we encounter in daily life.
Burke watchers are students of the scramble, explorers of identification, believers in transcendence, and —most importantly — idealistic seekers of new ways to relate to one another in this moment of communicative crisis.
Field notes from the human barnyard
What Can Burke Watching Do For You?
“Rhetoric” is often treated as a dirty word. Politicians use “empty rhetoric” to mislead us. Anonymous trolls shut down debate in comment sections across the internet with bad faith arguments and cries of “fake news!” The common belief is that if facts and morality are on your side, you shouldn’t need rhetoric to persuade your audience.
Yet, even Plato – one of the staunchest opponents of rhetoric as a strategy of persuasion – eventually admitted that rhetoric can, and should, be used in service of effectively communicating truth to those around us. It seems increasingly clear that facts, ethics, or logic are not sufficient to influence people’s behavior or change their minds. Rhetoric is how we make our ideas and beliefs intelligible to others. Employing rhetorical theory helps us communicate effectively with people we disagree with. Rhetorical practice also helps us better navigate the arguments that constantly surround us and to guard ourselves against going with the flow when it’s heading in a dangerous direction. In a world where truth is negotiated, rhetoric may actually be our only hope.
Not only is rhetoric powerful, it is everywhere. Kenneth Burke reminds us that rhetoric is “an essential function of language itself” (Rhetoric of Motives 43). When a political candidate gives a speech asking for your vote, they are using rhetoric; but so are you when you put your best foot forward in a job interview. In fact, we are using rhetoric right now to try and convince you to give Burke Watching a shot!
This project is inspired by Kenneth Burke’s argument that examining the language of fascism can provide us with the tools we need to fight back (“Rhetoric of Hitler’s ‘Battle’”). Burke Watching helps us become – and stay – aware of how rhetoric shapes our daily lives in big and small ways.
For Burke, rhetoric is “the use of language as a symbolic means of inducing cooperation” (Rhetoric of Motives 43). Burke Watching helps us keep our cooperation-inducing skills sharp, preparing us to fight effectively for what we believe in.