Alembicating Kenneth Burke's Concept of Recalcitrance

Authors:

• Floyd D. Anderson (SUNY, Brockport)
• Lawrence J. Prelli (Univ of New Hampshire)
• Matthew T. Althouse (SUNY, Brockport)

Abstract:

Kenneth Burke's concept of recalcitrance is pivotal in Permanence and Change and The Philosophy of Literary Form. Nevertheless, scholarly interpretations of the term lack coherence. By defining the concept in relation to ritual drama, this essay illustrates two categories of recalcitrance: the physical, keyed to Burke's semantic ideal of meaning, and the symbolic, keyed to the poetic ideal. This clarification opens new critical possibilities for the concept.