<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
</head>
<body>
<p>Clarke,</p>
<p>I am not certain that I have ever written about this as a general
problem, but I have been working on this problem for many years.
Take a look for example at:</p>
<p>James F. Klumpp. “Burkean Social Hierarchy and the Ironic
Investment of Martin Luther King.” <i>Kenneth Burke and the
Twenty-first Century.</i> Ed. Bernard L. Brock. Albany: State
University of New York Press, 1999. 207-41.</p>
<p>At the heart of that is an exploration in dialectic based in KB's
notions. It is captured in something as basic as the notion of
the corrupting force of purification. As we follow the
implications of a language strategy, the dialectic tells us we
will play out its possibilities and then keep going beyond its
"Malthusian limits." Thus, irony. King pursues a strategy with
the purpose of creating economic equality for his people. The
system he assaults co-op-erates in transforming his people into
consumers. But pursuit of that purpose ironically denies them
access to the full power of the economy.</p>
<p>I don't believe Burke wrote about this, it may be by extension.
But his dialectic makes the case that this is inevitable. The
seeds of a language strategy's failure are contained in its basic
form. It is in Hegel's principle of contradiction (as opposed to
Aristotle's). Did I address this as a general principle in the
keynote at the East Stroudsburg conference? I'd have to look at
that again.</p>
<p>Jim Klumpp<br>
</p>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 4/7/2020 5:52 PM, Clarke Rountree
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:CAOUukpPGavmbeeJ4988DR5k2cwOVVvjS32kRA7N1iASjWrjkRg@mail.gmail.com">
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
<div dir="ltr">Dear Burkelers,
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Here's a question for the quarantined and bored: I'm trying
to see if anyone has written in general about the problem of
competing rhetorical goals--times when a rhetor's seeking one
goal can undermine a second goal. Did Burke ever write about
that? </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>I thought about the literature on rhetorical genres that
look at hybrid genres. A hybrid, by definition, seeks
different rhetorical purposes. So, for example, Cheree Carlson
discussed John Quincy Adams' forensic and deliberative goals
in his Amistad address to the U.S. Supreme Court. But I don't
recall her considering how those goals might have conflicted.
(The tendency of such studies, I believe, is to say "This
speech does THIS and THAT"--an additive perspective.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>One problem with this issue is that it is so ubiquitous in
rhetorical discourse that there may not be a specific essay
that addresses it more generally. For example, say Trump wants
to undermine Joe Biden's credibility, but also doesn't want to
come across as a mudslinger--indeed perhaps even wants to
develop a more positive political image. (Okay, he doesn't
care about that, but suppose he did?) Easing up on the attack
hurts one goal; bearing down hurts another.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Thoughts?</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Clarke<br clear="all">
<div><br>
</div>
-- <br>
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature"
data-smartmail="gmail_signature">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div dir="ltr">
<div>Dr. Clarke Rountree<br>
Professor of Communication Arts</div>
<div>212D CTC<br>
University of Alabama in Huntsville<br>
Huntsville, AL 35899<br>
256-824-6646<br>
<a href="mailto:clarke.rountree@uah.edu"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">clarke.rountree@uah.edu</a></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<br>
<fieldset class="mimeAttachmentHeader"></fieldset>
<pre class="moz-quote-pre" wrap="">_______________________________________________
KB mailing list
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:KB@kbjournal.org">KB@kbjournal.org</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://kbjournal.org/mailman/listinfo/kb_kbjournal.org">http://kbjournal.org/mailman/listinfo/kb_kbjournal.org</a>
</pre>
</blockquote>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
-------------
James F. Klumpp, Professor Emeritus
Department of Communication, University of Maryland
409 Upper Haw Dr., Mars Hill, NC 28754
Email: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:jklumpp@umd.edu">jklumpp@umd.edu</a>
Voice: 828-689-4456
Website: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://terpconnect.umd.edu/~jklumpp/home.htm">http://terpconnect.umd.edu/~jklumpp/home.htm</a></pre>
</body>
</html>