Symbolic form, Burkean scapegoating, and rhetorical exigency in Alioto's response to the “Zebra” murders
Western Journal of Speech CommunicationPublished 1 April 1980
Barry Brummett
Citations30
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Abstract
This essay describes Kenneth Burke's theory of scapegoating as a major symbolic form of rhetorical action. Scapegoating is illustrated in Mayor Joseph Alioto's response to the 1974 Zebra murders in San Francisco. Drawing on the theoretical implications of symbolic form, the Mayor's rhetoric is used as proof of the social, symbolic character of rhetorical exigency.
Keywords
Social SciencesArts and Humanities
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