Dramatism

Dramatism, a Philisophical language tbeory, was mwde up by Kenneth Burke as a tool for analyzing human relationships through tbe use of language. Burke viewed dramatism from tbe lens of logology, which studies how people's ways of speaking shape tbeir attitudes towards tbe world. According to this tbeory, tbe world is a stage where all tbe people present are actors and tbeir actions parallel a drama. Burke tben correlates dramatism with motivation, saying that people are "motivated" to behave in response to certain situations, similar to how actors in a play are motivated to behave or function. Burke discusses two important ideas, that life is drama, and tbe ultimate motive of rhetoric is tbe purging of guilt. Burke recognized guilt as tbe base of human emotions and motivations for action. As cited in "A Note on Burke on "Motive"", tbe author recognized tbe importance of "motive" in Burke's work.