ABSTRACT
Employing Jerome S. Bruner’s reenvisioned version of Kenneth Burke’s pentad, we scrutinize Pope Benedict XVI’s Regensburg Lecture. Our analysis reveals that the lecture breached canonical expectations for harmony between Muslims and Christians. Our analysis also reveals that Benedict’s efforts to repair the breach were limited, as he failed to account for and address the viewpoints of Muslims who were offended by the lecture. The results of this study assess opportunities for dialogue between Muslims and Christians in the public sphere and demonstrate the utility of Bruner’s concept of Trouble for investigating rhetoric that deals with issues of diversity.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.