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A Grammar of Motives

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"A Grammar of Motives" was published in 1945 as the first volume in a proposed trilogy "On Human Relations" that was never completed; the second volume "A Rhetoric of Motives" was published and their are several pretenders for the third volume, but "A Symbolic of Motives" was never written. Burke's guiding question in this volume is set up in his introduction: "What is involved, when we say what people are doing and why they are doing it?" Burke is concerned with the basic forms of thought in terms of the attribution of motive which he sees as a pivotal part of human interaction present in everything from bits of gossip to systematically elaborated metaphysical structures, although his focus is on more traditional realms such as legal judgment, poetry, fiction, politics, science and the news.

The importance of this volume in terms of rhetorical criticism is Burke's development of the dramatistic metaphor/method in general, and the basic terms of analysis with the dramatistic pentad: Act, Scene, Agent, Agency, and Purpose. Ultimately, Burke is interested in the purely internal relationship fo these five terms including "their possibilities of transformation, their range of permutations and combinations." Part One "Way of Placement," establishes the relationship between "Container and Thing Contained," works through all the "Antinomies of Definition" for the key term SUBSTANCE, and then considers the possibilities of "Scope and Reduction." Part Two on "The Philosophic Schools" looks at the elements of the pentad, "Scene," "Agent in General," "Act," "Agency and Purpose." Part Three offers Burke's thoughts "On Dialectic" as the process by which motives are interpreted.

Because the pentad is the Burkeian concept that best lends itself to rhetorical criticism it has been used more often than anything else to be found in his writings. However, this misses the original import of these constructs, which was to get to the basic process of human thought. In this regard "A Grammer of Motives" establishes a foundation for looking at much more than the speeches of politicians. We are reminded by Burke's epigram "ad bellum purificandum" that his goal "is to eliminate the whole world of conflict that can be eliminated through understanding." Burke's work is central to the study of rhetoric and social theory, and while I have always preferred his earlier pre-war "trilogy," his reconstituted critical vocabulary in this volume provides a foundation for reconsidering his earlier works as well as following the progression in "A Rhetoric of Motives."

Kenneth Burke's A Grammar of Motives (published in 1945) responds to the question, "what is involved when we say what people are doing and why they are doing it" (xi). Written as part of an intended trilogy, along with A Rhetoric of Motives and the never completed A Symbolic of Motives, Burke's treatise probes into the way language incites and dictates human motivation and ultimately human action. To clarify, "grammar" in the context of Burke's study does not assume its typical meaning of a language's set of rules. Burke's book is more a lexicon of motives; an invented vocabulary devised to simplify the complex possibilities of human motivation. However, Burke's title A Grammar of Motives is more precise, as the book is a systematic study of given principles and their interrelationships, a concept that also falls under the definition of "grammar."
Burke accomplishes this systematic study by establishing and concentrating on the internal relationships between five terms: Act, Scene, Agent, Agency, and Purpose (xi). By "act," Burke means what took place, "scene" is the background or situation of the act, "agent" is who performed the deed, "agency" is by what means, and "purpose" is why the deed takes place. In other words, Burke concerns himself with who, what, when, where, why, and how. This "pentad" becomes not only the basis for Burke's examination of motives, but also the backbone of his dramatism theory-a critical method developed out of the analysis of drama that "treats language and thought primarily as modes of action" (xvi). By examining how the five principles interrelate, A Grammar of Motives delves into consideration of language as a vehicle of eliciting human action.
Burke structures the book around his five terms, dedicating a section to each in which he explains the various ratios and forces behind the components of motivation. Burke opens with broad discussion of different motivations, focusing on money and God as factors, and then moves into an individual treatment of each term in the pentad. Very much an interdisciplinary study, Burke supports his ideas with many examples from major philosophical thinkers, sociological principles, and literary texts.
Perhaps the most pertinent concept to literary criticism in A Grammar of Motives is Burke's idea of literature as symbolic action. Burke defines this as "the realm of the incipient or attitudinal . . . ambiguous potentialities of action" (243). In another passage, Burke explains I.A. Richards' analysis of literature as a form of action:
The symbolic representation of some object or event in art can arouse an added complexity of response in us, he suggests, because it invites us to feel such emotions as would be associated with the actual object or event, while at the same time we make allowance for it as a fiction (236).
Burke, in addition to stressing the benefits of ambiguity in our response, further explains that such potential for arousal in literature need not result in overt action, but serves as a mechanism to refine and enrich our consciousness.
Burke, in his description of symbolic action, alludes to Shelley's "Ode to the West Wind," a poem outlining the "transition involving idealistic progress toward identification of individual self" (244). Other notable works discussed that demonstrate Burke's theory include Marx's Communist Manifesto, a dialectic tracing "a series of steps whereby each class produces the conditions leading to its overthrow by the class that is to succeed it," (205) and an extended read of Keats' "Ode on a Grecian Urn" in the appendix. Burke's discussion of the "Grecian Urn," in which he describes the movement suggested by each stanza as "a series of transformations into the oracle `Beauty is truth, truth beauty,'" further elucidates his concept of symbolic action.
Burke's reading of Keats' critically debated poem suggests that a ratio of act and scene ("act" being the poem itself and "scene" being the truth Keats appeals to) form the motivating force behind Keats' creation. Burke views the lines "What leaf-fringed legend haunts about thy shape/Of deities or mortals, or of both" in the first stanza as the dichotomy between the motives of gods and men. Burke interprets the "human passion" and fever-like symptoms in the third stanza as ambiguity between Keats' literal physical ailment that would claim him at twenty six years old, and the passion towards his ill-fated love of Fanny Brawne. Either of these, Burke claims, could be motivation behind the act of the poem. In critiquing Keats, Burke emphasizes the movement within the poem, which leads the reader to the final lines "Beauty is truth, truth beauty."
Though Burke's read of "Grecian Urn" is the most comprehensive application of his pentad, A Grammar of Motives strength lies in its multiple connections to canonical literary works throughout the argument. In sum, Burke has written an original and innovative text that potentially changes the way we interpret literature. That he never finished the third part of the trilogy, and that he later viewed "attitude" as an equally important motivating factor among his pentad demonstrates some of the uncertainty in Burke's method. Additionally, depending on one's critical disposition, Burke's reliance on biographical information to aid his reading of Keats (as well as others) may diminish the validity of the approach. Still, with the introduction of the dramatist pentad in A Grammar of Motives, Burke has solidified his place among twentieth century literary criticism.

"A Grammar of Motives" was published in 1945 as the first volume in a proposed trilogy "On Human Relations" that was never completed; the second volume "A Rhetoric of Motives" was published and their are several pretenders for the third volume, but "A Symbolic of Motives" was never written. Burke's guiding question in this volume is set up in his introduction: "What is involved, when we say what people are doing and why they are doing it?" Burke is concerned with the basic forms of thought in terms of the attribution of motive which he sees as a pivotal part of human interaction present in everything from bits of gossip to systematically elaborated metaphysical structures, although his focus is on more traditional realms such as legal judgment, poetry, fiction, politics, science and the news.

The importance of this volume in terms of rhetorical criticism is Burke's development of the dramatistic metaphor/method in general, and the basic terms of analysis with the dramatistic pentad: Act, Scene, Agent, Agency, and Purpose. Ultimately, Burke is interested in the purely internal relationship fo these five terms including "their possibilities of transformation, their range of permutations and combinations." Part One "Way of Placement," establishes the relationship between "Container and Thing Contained," works through all the "Antinomies of Definition" for the key term SUBSTANCE, and then considers the possibilities of "Scope and Reduction." Part Two on "The Philosophic Schools" looks at the elements of the pentad, "Scene," "Agent in General," "Act," "Agency and Purpose." Part Three offers Burke's thoughts "On Dialectic" as the process by which motives are interpreted.

Because the pentad is the Burkeian concept that best lends itself to rhetorical criticism it has been used more often than anything else to be found in his writings. However, this misses the original import of these constructs, which was to get to the basic process of human thought. In this regard "A Grammer of Motives" establishes a foundation for looking at much more than the speeches of politicians. We are reminded by Burke's epigram "ad bellum purificandum" that his goal "is to eliminate the whole world of conflict that can be eliminated through understanding." Burke's work is central to the study of rhetoric and social theory, and while I have always preferred his earlier pre-war "trilogy," his reconstituted critical vocabulary in this volume provides a foundation for reconsidering his earlier works as well as following the progression in "A Rhetoric of Motives."

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This tome is a complete compendium of Western thought. An excellent book that makes me want to write everytime I'm finished reading it!