Rhetoric, Anxiety, and Character Armor: Burke's Interactional Rhetoric of Identity¹

Although recognized as a rhetorical theorist, Kenneth Burke is rarely identified as a scholar contributing to research in symbolic interactionism. This essay, accordingly, demonstrates the relevance of Burke's work to the self-presentation literature and, more specifically, his rhetorical theory to questions of individual identity—highlighting Burke's valuable, heretofore overlooked, contribution to this conversation. Second, drawing on Becker and Laing, this essay outlines Burke's interactional rhetoric of identity, discourse aimed at gaining another's cooperation in the defense of the rhetor's identity. Identity is correspondingly treated as a fragile rhetorical production, armor fashioned through symbolic means, ever-renewed through symbol-use in relational contexts.