[KB] "Burke Week"

[David Spiech]

I sat in on that session. There were about 20 people, as I recall, and they
did a close reading of ATH.

David Spiech

On Wed, Aug 1, 2018, 15:38 Edward C Appel <edwardcappel at frontier.com> wrote:

> Burkophiles,
>
>           Surfing the net via Google, I somehow came across an article
> entitled, “’How Delightfully Awful’: Reflections on Kenneth Burke’s
> ‘Linguistic Approach to Problems of Education,’” by Andrew Hartman of, as I
> recall, Belmont University. It’s a really good piece. Hartman summarizes
> well Burke’s chapter in that 1955 book on philosophy and education, and
> applies Burke’s insights to a 1950 critique of *Huckleberry Finn* by
> Lionel Trilling. Hartman was blogging on a site, S-USIH.com, owned by the
> Society for United States Intellectual History.  I had never heard of this
> group before. Posting on 6/3/15, Hartman alluded to a then-recent
> conference the society had had in Indianapolis, in which discussion of
> Burke was a part. Most intriguing, Hartman made reference to a “Burke Week”
> on the blog held shortly thereafter. He gave a link to one of the papers,
> or blog posts, in that series.
>
>           That link brought up the introductory post to “Burke Week,”
> early November, 2014: “Blogging Kenneth Burke’s *Attitudes Toward History*:
> The Introductory Post,” by Ben Alpers, 11/10/14, another well-taken probe.
> Alluding to all the brilliant passages in the tome he’d not have time or
> space to quote, Alpers basically takes issue only with the title of *ATH*.
> Alpers suggests three alternatives:
>
>           “Attitudes Toward the Incessant Intermingling of Conservatism
> and Progress.”
>
>           “Statements of Policy on Problems of Organizational Behavior.”
>
>           “Manual of Terms for a Public Relations Council with Heart.”
>
>           Alpers praises the way Burke ties things all together in the
> six-page conclusion, quirky arrangement of the book, or not.
>
>           In a post of reaction to that introductory blog, Paul Kern says
> look at *Attitudes* as a manual or introductory guide to life, as indeed,
> “Equipment for Living.” Kern adds this warning as addendum to the title:
> “REMEMBER: READ THE WHOLE MANUAL BEFORE USING THIS PRODUCT. All the parts
> and pieces tend to overlap and inter-join,” culminating with Burke’s bottom
> line, “By proper discounting, everything becomes usable.”
>
>           The four follow-up posts for “Burke Week” were:
>
>           “Kenneth Burke’s Frames of Acceptance.” By Andrew Hartman,
> 11/12/14.
>
>           “Identifying Burke,” by Bill Fine, 11/13/14.
>
>           “Kenneth Burke and Self-Help,” by Andy Seal, 11/14/14.
>
>           “WWBD! The Cash Value of Kenneth Burke as Historical Theorist,”
> by Tim Lacy, 11/15/14.
> Indeed, “What Would Burke Do?” We’ve all asked that question a time or two.
>
>           Two other posts I came across on the S-USIH site that touch on
> Burke:
>
>           “A Specter Is Haunting American Studies,” by Andrew Hartman,
> 4/8/14.
>
>           “The Going Concern: Marx and Burke on Human History,” by Andy
> Seal, 10/17/16.
>
>           Burke seems to be alive and well even in places some of us
> didn’t know about.
>
>
>           Ed
>
>
>
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