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Dramatism, a communication studies theory, was developed by Kenneth Burke as a tool for analyzing human relationships through the use of language. Burke viewed dramatism from the lens of logology, which studies how people's ways of speaking shape their attitudes towards the world.[1] According to this theory, the world is a stage where all the people present are actors and their actions parallel a drama.[1] Burke then correlates dramatism with motivation, saying that people are "motivated" to behave in response to certain situations, similar to how actors in a play are motivated to behave or function.[1] Burke discusses two important ideas – that life is drama, and the ultimate motive of rhetoric is the purging of guilt.[2] Burke recognized guilt as the base of human emotions and motivations for action. As cited in "A Note on Burke on "Motive"", the author recognized the importance of "motive" in Burke's work.[3] In "Kenneth Burke's concept of motives in rhetorical theory", the authors mentioned that Burke believes that guilt, "combined with other constructs, describes the totality of the compelling force within an event which explains why the event took place."[4]
Dramatism consists of three broad concepts —the pentad, identification, and the guilt-purification-redemption cycle.[1] The entry then considers five major areas in which scholars in a variety of fields apply dramatism: the dramaturgical self, motivation and drama, social relationships as dramas, organizational dramas, and political dramas.
To understand people's movement and intentions, the theorist sets up the Dramatistic Pentad strategy for viewing life, not as life itself,[5] by comparing each social unit involved in human activities as five elements of drama – act, scene, agent, agency, and purpose,[6] to answer the empirical question of how persons explain their actions,[2] and to find the ultimate motivations of human activities.
"Dramatism is treated as a technique for analyzing language as a mode of action in which specialized nomenclatures are recognized, each with particular ends and insights."[7]
- ^ a b c d Allen, Mike (2017). The SAGE Encyclopedia of Communication Research Methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc. doi:10.4135/9781483381411. ISBN 978-1-4833-8143-5.
- ^ a b Overington, Michaela. (1977). "Kenneth Burke and the method of dramatism". Theory and Society. 4. doi:10.1007/BF00209747. S2CID 14247697.
- ^ Benoit, William (1996). "A Note on Burke on "Motive"". Rhetoric Society Quarterly. 26 (2): 67–79. doi:10.1080/02773949609391066. JSTOR 3886226.
- ^ Crable, Richard E.; Makay, John J. (1972). "Kenneth Burke's concept of motives in rhetorical theory". Today's Speech. 20 (1): 11–18. doi:10.1080/01463377209369017. ISSN 0040-8573.
- ^ Mangham, I. L., & Overington, M. A. (2005). Dramatism and the theatrical metaphor. Life as theater, A dramaturgical sourcebook (2nd ed.), Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick, NJ, 333-346.
- ^ Griffin, Em. (2009). A First Look at Communication Theory. (7th ed.) New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
- ^ Burke, Kenneth (1985-03-01). "Dramatism and logology". Communication Quarterly. 33 (2): 89–93. doi:10.1080/01463378509369584. ISSN 0146-3373.