Language as Symbolic Action: Essays on Life, Literature and Method is a book by Kenneth Burke, published in 1966 by the University of California Press.
a truly rigorous attempt to account for a single work on the grounds of poetics alone should force recognition that it is necessary to go beyond poetics-in-particular to language-in-general.
.”[5] Perfection, according to Burke and similar scholars, is a motive that exists both in literature and beyond, as an underlying human desire that drives much symbolic action.
The third and often-referenced chapter “Terministic Screens” makes use of many key terms of Burke's “dramatistic” approach to literary and rhetorical criticism.
A ‘dramatistic’ approach stresses ‘language as an aspect of ‘action,’ that is, symbolic action’(44).”[6] Burke explains that, through the concept of terministic screens, “any nomenclature necessarily directs the attention into some channels rather than others.” This can be obvious, such as how different academic subjects direct the attention, or more subtle.
One of the more significant of these is chapter six, entitled “Medium as Message.” Burke takes one of his peers, Marshall McLuhan, to task for focusing too much on the media rather than the symbolic resources of language.
Burke’s main criticism of McLuhan stems from his most memorable slogan and the undue emphasis put on medium.
His fate is that of a man some years ahead of his time.”[11] The range of critical ideas and practices included in Language as Symbolic Action help scholars explore this breadth.