[KB] "Burke Week"

[Dave Spiech]

Some were baffled by Burke’s approach, but it was interesting to see him treated seriously by historians. 


> On Aug 2, 2018, at 8:45 AM, HERBERT W. Simons <hsimons at temple.edu> wrote:
> 
> Must have been great fun.
> 
> On Wed, Aug 1, 2018 at 7:49 PM, David Spiech <davespiech at gmail.com <mailto:davespiech at gmail.com>> wrote:
> 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 <mailto: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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> 
> 
> -- 
> Herbert W. Simons, Ph.D.
> Emeritus Professor of Communication
> Dep't of  Strategic Communication, Weiss Hall 215
> Temple University, Philadelphia 19122
> Home phone: 215 844 5969
> http://astro.temple.edu/~hsimons <http://astro.temple.edu/%7Ehsimons>
> Academic Fellow, Center for Transformative Strategic Initiatives (CTSI)
> 

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