Refurbishing Psychoanalysis for Rhetorical Analysis: Burke's Dramatistic Transformation of Freudian Terministic Screens

Author:

• Yun Ding (Tennessee Tech Univ)

Abstract:

This essay examines Burke's intellectual engagement with Freudian psychoanalysis at both theoretical and methodological levels, with special reference to his understanding of psychoanalysis as "secular conversion." In the rich, frank and innovative "dictionary" of Freudian psychoanalysis, Burke perceives a subversive force - a secular intrusion into some topical areas that have been for centuries colonized by theological language.