A Burkeian Analysis of the Rhetoric of Gloria Steinem Page: 27
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27
social cohesion within the movement. Burke's prime example
of a unifier is Hitler in his analysis of Mein Kampf.
There he identifies strategies which can be applied to most
social and political movements. The unifying center is the
leader who capitalizes on the presence of a common enemy,
for "men who can unite on nothing else can unite on the basis
of a foe shared by all."4 A leader can also play on the
"in-born dignity" of all persons and the motivation to
become superior.
In A Rhetoric of Motives, Burke discussed the charisma
of the leader:
When a figure becomes the personification of
some impersonal motive, the result is a de-
personalization. The person becomes the
charismatic vessel of some "absolute" sub-
stance and when thus magically endowed, the person
transcends his nature as an individual, becoming
instead the image of the idea he stands for . . .
representative of the family or class substance
with which he is identified. In this respect
he becomes "divine" (and his distinctive marks,
such as clothing, enbody the same spirit . ..)
as a charismatic vessel of a social motive which
the communicant would court round about.105
Thus a speaker may use identification, transcendence,
and courtship to lead his followers up the ladder of hierarchy.
With these rhetorical tools the speaker "attempts to please
his audience by using forms that establish the transcendent
equality that eternally exists in the universal pursuit of
106
social cohesion." The forms utilized by the speaker in-
dicate his style. According to Burke, style can be defined
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Timmerman, Susan McCue. A Burkeian Analysis of the Rhetoric of Gloria Steinem, thesis, August 1973; Denton, Texas. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc935569/m1/33/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; .