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Symbolic form, Burkean scapegoating, and rhetorical exigency in Alioto's response to the “Zebra” murders

1980; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 44; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/10570318009373987

2380-6931

Barry Brummett,

Public Relations and Crisis Communication

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.