Burke Dramatism and Obama

caerglas: Looking for feedback on Obama. Also: my take on his Rhetoric.

Obama can talk, he's great. His Ethos and Pathos are strong. He sounds very sincere and caring, and what he says is often what I've felt has needed to be said, and is something I feel I can get behind. He's a modern day Cicero--and that guy was a jerk, an autocrat who made the people feel very good and pleased with themselves for doing what he wanted them to do. Or he's a modern day Saruman, to be a nerd--his logic, his policies weren't good at all, but he sounded really wise while saying it and everyone wanted to agree with it as it sounded great the way he said it.

Obama's Rhetorical style in this speech gives me pause--it gives me great pause, really. It's big on hierarchies and centralizing power into his hands. In brief: it's pretty big with Kenneth Burke's (I think) Dramaticism. That's a style that's great on Ethos and Pathos. It's a style that encourages the audience to identify with the speaker, to identify themselves (and the speaker) with his description of the current state of affairs. This description must paint the current state of affairs as flawed and troubled--but the speaker knows a way to improve the current problems and transcend the current state of affairs into an improved situation, while at the same time the speaker and the audience transcend from their current state and into an improved state--not just because they've identified with the current situation, and that situation has improved--but also through the audience's allegiance with the speaker.

Perhaps this is necessary for getting groups of people together... but it's dangerous as it throws a lot of power into the hands of the 'leader.' It's also dangerous as it causes centralization of power and 'unification' among the followers. Dramatism requires hierarchies--'you must transcend the troubled times by following me as the leader; through following me, who is one of you, we all will transcend into a better state.' And that's what's up with my concern on trusting Obama. Such charisma is not necessarily to be lauded in a leader we cannot predict, and I cannot predict him. Aside from the Rhetorical clues in his style, Obama explicitly called the present as a time for "unity," or unification. He's very much against divisive speech here.