Nietzsche contra Burke: The melodrama in dramatism

Abstract

The works of Kenneth Burke and Friedrich Nietzsche find common ground in a similar understanding of the hortatory nature of language‐using. This similarity gives rise to a measure of dissonance when weighed against their radically differing conceptions of the negative—Burke employing a “sacrificial,” dialectical negative and Nietzsche a “discriminative,” nondialectical negative. These differences in use of the negative allow a distinction between two genres of dramatism with important consequences identified in tragic drama, illustrating contrasting orientations toward symbolic activity in general.