ABSTRACT
Kenneth burke holds that while expressive forms are part of a communicative context which is not wholly verbal, they do have a nature of their own. A theory of communication in society must therefore be a theory of language, and a theory of how language functions in society; the identification of the "substance of a particular literary act by a theory of literary action in general". This involves a definition of "literary act" and "communicative context". Burke's system, which he calls "Dramatism", is distinguished from Mead's and others' by its grounding in symbols themselves. "Human conduct", Burke states, being in the realm of action and end is most directly discussible in dramatistic terms. The difference between symbolic and social drama is the difference between imaginary and real obstacles, but, to produce effects on audiences, symbolic drama must reflect the real obstacles of social drama.
