On Symbols and Society

by Kenneth Burke, Joseph R. Gusfield (Editor)

Kenneth Burke's innovative use of dramatism and dialectical method have made him a powerful critical force in an extraordinary variety of disciplines—education, philosophy, history, psychology, religion, and others. While most widely acclaimed as a literary critic, Burke has elaborated a perspective toward the study of behavior and society that holds immense significance and rich insights for sociologists. This original anthology brings together for the first time Burke's key writings on symbols and social relations to offer social scientists access to Burke's thought.

In his superb introductory essay, Joseph R. Gusfield traces the development of Burke's approach to human action and its relationship to other similar sources of theory and ideas in sociology; he discusses both Burke's influence on sociologists and the limits of his perspective. Burke regards literature as a form of human behavior—and human behavior as embedded in language. His lifework represents a profound attempt to understand the implications for human behavior based on the fact that humans are "symbol-using animals." As this volume demonstrates, the work that Burke produced from the 1930s through the 1960s stands as both precursor and contemporary key to recent intellectual movements such as structuralism, symbolic anthropology, phenomenological and interpretive sociology, critical theory, and the renaissance of symbolic interaction.

Genres: Philosophy, Theory

342 pages, Paperback

First published June 15, 1989

About the author

Kenneth Duva Burke was a major American literary theorist and philosopher. Burke's primary interests were in rhetoric and aesthetics.

Reviews

[Zachary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall this is a stellar collection of Burke's work that both hits the highlights of his long career and contextualizes much of it through a very helpful introduction to the materials at the outset. Still, I can't help but feel like later selections are less focused than others, and give some introduction to concepts without actually providing them in a useful enough setting to see how they're deployed. The last section of the book in particular seems to fall apart in this regard, which is especially disappointing given that it follows the stellar selections on rhetoric and rhetorical action/criticism. But all in all a fine selection of Burke's most influential and paradigmatic works, compiled in such a way as to make the connections between pieces clear and so useful.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Defines man in symbol. Fantastic!

[Vern Glaser · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is fantastic. very interesting. not the easiest read in the world, but definitely has some interesting ideas, an intriguing balance between positivism and relativism

[Michael Paul Cartledge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy way to get into Burke