One of the common means through which political agenda is realized is through communication. Many politicians have perfected the art of rhetoric since it is the quality of their rhetoric that defines whether a politician gets a political office or not. Kenneth Burke is one of the world’s renowned rhetorical theorists, who have immensely contributed to the understanding of the concept of communication. The theory of dramatism as it applies to communication is one developed by Burke and one that can be applied in getting to understand the actions by various political actors.
The theory on dramatism, according to Burke has two major parts; action and motion (Bygrave, 2012). An action is a concept that applies to humans and touches on people’s voluntary activities. Motion, on the other hand, is not purposeful and mostly applies to animals. From the political point of view, every action a politician engages in is intended to achieve some end, whether for the good of the public or for selfish reasons. According to Burke, a better understanding of human action can be realized through applying another concept of motive. Motive, in this case, touches on the patterns of throught or frames of mind that people possess (Bygrave, 2012). The aspect of motive represents how people conceive various issues around them, and how this understanding is channeled to an audience. To bring clarity to the link between action and motive, Burke introduced the dramatism pentad. The pentad has five key components, which can be used to get a better understanding of the political activity. A simpler understanding of the pentad is the common phrase of understanding who, when, where, why and how. In politics, therefore, any form of communication, is intended at causing a dramatic effect, which translates to the achievement of political goals.
The first aspect of the pentad is the act. The act refers to a purposeful course of action an individual chooses to take (Bygrave, 2012). In the political circles, every act targets a particular response, among other political actors or the public. In other cases, an act may have an unforeseen dramatic effect, which even the politician did not anticipate. This comes about because politics entails governing people, who are essentially political and subject to dramatic influences. The second aspect in Burke’s dramatism pentad is the scene. The scene refers to the context within which an act is done (Bygrave, 2012). Political actors carry out their actions within a space referred as the political context. Within the political context, there are various values and assumptions an actor needs to follow, resulting in the rise of concepts such as “politically correct language”. The political context is also characterized by individuals devoted to pursuing their political agenda, and would be willing to go to extreme levels to realize these goals. The political activity experienced at a given location, therefore, conforms to the political context the location has created.
Another aspect of the pentad is the agent. The agent, according to Burke is the individual who performs a given act (Bygrave, 2012). In the political context, politicians want their words to have a dramatic effect. The drama caused by a politician, however, depends on the nature of the political actors. To this end, there are political actors who gather the tag of being “controversial”, whose rhetoric and action causes the most drama. Burke adds that the agency is the fourth aspect within the dramatism pentad, and refers to the route an agent utilizes to accomplish a given act. He argues that agencies can take different forms, such as telling stories or delivering speeches (Bygrave, 2012). In political rhetoric, political actors apply varied forms of agency to score political goals. The central aspect is using an agency communicates the intended message to the audience. A look into the different forms of mainstream media indicates the types of agencies applied within the political arena to pass messages.
The last aspect in Burke’s dramatism pentad is the purpose. The purpose refers what informs an agent to act in a particular way, examining the end goals of an action (Bygrave, 2012). In the political scene, the purposes of actors within a political set up are evident. In their rhetoric, political actors often try to gain advantages over other actors in the same setup. In addition, political actors may deliberately choose to communicate in a manner intended to create drama, which is in turn leveraged to gain political prominence. In other cases, the drama caused by political actors can be negative, especially when messages are misinterpreted.
According to (23456789), the American political scene, and especially the actions of some presidents can be seen to take the route of exclusion. To this end, the presidents, especially during the cold war applied concepts of dramatism to convince the American public on the need for going into war (Bendrat, 2013). To this end, the presidency, adopted communication techniques that sought to create a feeling of “us” against “them”. This kind of narrative was achieved through the messages offered regarding the actions of various actors during the conflict. The end goal of such dramatism was to achieve the political goal of appearing to be a leader with the ability to protect the interests of the American people (Bendrat, 2013).
Rhetoric, therefore, appears to be an important tool used by politicians to make political gains. The insight provided by Burke regarding the motives in rhetoric is critical in analyzing political activity.
References
Bendrat, A. (2013). The dispute as a political spectacle: a rhetorical actio during the cold war. Retrieved June 20, 2016, from retoryka.edu: http://www.retoryka.edu.pl/files/far2_2013_art2.pdf
Bygrave, S. (2012). Kenneth Burke: Rhetoric and Ideology. Routledge.
