'24-Hour Rhetorical Theory Exam'
Central question: “How are Burke’s views on both rhetoric and on technology useful to those who seek a theory for assessing the political implication of the new communication technologies and for those interested in finding a critical tool to discuss communication on the internet?” (Clancy, p.1)
> dramatic analysis “useful and apt for the study of communication technologies” (ibid.)
(Burke)
Technology causes narrow specializations: compartmentalization of knowledge.
> “(…) affects the dominant perception of language and rhetoric.” (Clancy, p.2)
> striving towards an undisputed clarity of meaning through the creation/use of a semantic ideal.
> infused by a positivistic view: “only that which can be known through empirical observation can truly have meaning.” (ibid.)
<> poetic ideal: strives toward “attaining a perspective atop all the conflicts of attitude.” (Clancy, p.3)
“In Burke’s critique of McLuhan, he argues that the rhetoric surrounding communication technology is reductive, placing too much emphasis on agency, rather than the full range of the Dramatic pentad.” (ibid.)
> “(…) scholars should study technologies in their historical, social and economic contexts.” (Clancy, p. 5)
> “What is being said on …? Whose interests are being served in (the) … discourse? What values and prevailing modes of thought are being inculcated on …? What effect is the communication technology having on the content? To what extent are (users) … doing that to which the medium lends itself?” (ibid.)
