Kenneth Duva Burke defies easy categorization within American literary circles, leaving scholars intrigued by his eclectic contributions. Spanning social philosophy, music, poetry, literary criticism, fiction, and economics, Burke's influence is most profoundly felt in the study of rhetoric. He envisioned rhetoric as a pervasive element of daily life, using a wide array of cultural insights gathered through his lifelong curiosity and self-education to illustrate his theories. His ideas and works form a captivating mosaic of twentieth-century philosophical thought.

Early Life and Education

Born on May 5, 1897, in Pittsburgh, Kenneth Burke grew up in a working-class family alongside his childhood friend, Malcolm Cowley. He attended Peabody High School and briefly studied at Ohio State University before transferring to Columbia University. Despite leaving academia without a degree, Burke was determined to pursue a writing career. In New York City, he immersed himself in the bohemian culture of Greenwich Village, mingling with other young writers such as Edna St. Vincent Millay, Hart Crane, Allen Tate, and E. E. Cummings. By 1919, he married Lillian Batterham and began supporting his family through various writing and editing jobs.

Professional Beginnings

In 1921, Burke joined the staff of The Dial, a prominent literary magazine, where he served as an editor, music critic, and contributor. Three years later, he published his first book, a collection titled The White Oxen, and Other Stories. His work also appeared in major publications like The Nation and The New Republic, earning him the Dial Award in 1929 for his contribution to American letters. Despite professional achievements, Burke's personal life was tumultuous; his affair with his wife's sister, Elizabeth Batterham, led to his divorce from Lillian and subsequent marriage to Elizabeth in 1933. This period of personal upheaval inspired his novel, Towards a Better Life, Being a Series of Epistles, or Declamations, marking a turning point as his final fictional work.

Engagement with Social Causes

In the 1930s, Burke's writing began to reflect a growing interest in social issues. His 1935 book Permanence and Change: An Anatomy of Purpose underscored his belief that literature and criticism should fulfill a social, rhetorical role. That same year, Burke actively participated in the first Writers’ Congress, advocating for social, political, and economic reforms. He also joined the Executive Committee of the League of American Writers, later participating in the second Writers’ Congress in 1937, where he championed rhetoric as a unifying force.

Academic Career and Rhetorical Contributions

In 1937, Burke began lecturing in criticism at the New School for Social Research in New York. His teaching career spanned several decades, including a long tenure at Bennington College from 1943 to 1961, where he was awarded an honorary doctorate in 1966. Burke frequently served as a visiting professor at institutions like Harvard, the University of Chicago, and Princeton, solidifying his reputation as a prolific writer and theorist. His works, such as The Philosophy of Literary Form (1941), A Grammar of Motives, A Rhetoric of Motives, The Rhetoric of Religion, and Language as Symbolic Action, reflect his expansive scholarship and deep interest in the symbolism inherent in everyday rhetoric. In recognition of his literary achievements, Burke received the National Medal for Literature in 1981 and continued to influence the field until his death in 1993 at age ninety-six.

Dramatism and the Pentad

Burke's theory of dramatism, articulated in A Grammar of Motives , is fundamental to his impact on rhetorical studies. He defined humans as "symbol-using animals" driven to move others to action, using the metaphor of stage drama to explain communication acts. Dramatism revolves around the "pentad,"...