Fascism and the rhetoric of unification

From Includipedia, the inclusionist encyclopedia

Part of the Politics series on Fascism Image:Fasces.png

Definition Definitions of fascism Varieties and derivatives of fascism Arrow Cross Austrofascism Brazilian Integralism Clerical fascism Greek fascism Crypto-fascism Iron Guard Italian fascism Japanese fascism Neo-Fascism Rexism Ustaše Fascist political parties and movements Fascism as an international phenomenon List of fascist movements by country Fascism in history 4th of August Regime Fascio Fascist Italy Italian Social Republic March on Rome Related subjects Actual Idealism Anti-fascism Benito Mussolini Black Brigades Blackshirts Class collaboration Corporatism Economics of fascism Fascism and ideology Fascist symbolism Fascist unification rhetoric Giovanni Gentile Grand Council of Fascism Nazi salute National syndicalism Neo-Fascism Roman salute Social fascism Third Position

Fascism Portal Politics Portal   v • d • e</span>

Burke (1939; reprinted in 1941 and 1981) identified four tropes as specific to Hitler's rhetoric: inborn dignity, projection device, symbolic rebirth, and commercial use. Several other tropes are discussed in the chapter, "Persuasion" (Burke: 1969).

One trope is the idea of the common enemy. Without an enemy with a mindless determination to destroy everything good and beautiful, any state struggles with the economic and social problems of unemployment and poverty. So, the idea of a common enemy is a symbol of the evil against which people must unite, and it distracts the people from politically inconvenient issues by relating all evils to the common rhetorical enemy. According to Burke, this is creating an antithesis. We are born separate individuals and divided by class or other criteria, so identification is a compensation to division. (Burke, 1969, p. 22). He sees this human need to identify with or belong to a group as providing a rich resource for those interested in joining us or, more importantly, persuading us. To promote social cohesion, antithesis makes a simple balancing statement, "We do this" but "They do that". This symmetry creates an expression of conjoined opposites which stigmatises the latter and encourages the former to cohere by only doing "this". At first, the enemy may be local politicians or other voices that might criticise the propaganist's actions. Then, all opposing voices are seen as antithetical to unity: without a united voice, the outside enemies will gain the upper hand. If the nation goes to war, fascism requires that everybody in society and every aspect of society is involved in the war effort and machine, so the society fights as one organism under the one leader.

Another trope is Commercial use. Commercial use rhetoric offers a non-economic interpretation of economic problems that appeals to the class that will benefit the most if the competition is removed. Thus, Burke (1941) identifies Hitler's attribution of Germany's economic difficulties to "Jewish" moneylenders, suggesting that if they were removed, "Aryan" finance would be in control.

[edit] References

• Burke, Kenneth. (1989). "The Rhetoric of Hitler's Battle". in On Symbols and Society. Burke, Kenneth & Gusfield, Joseph R. (eds.). Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press. pp. 211-231. ISBN 0-226-08078-1
• Burke, Kenneth. (1939). "The Rhetoric of Hitler's Battle". The Southern Review 5; 1-21.
• Burke, Kenneth. (1941). "The Rhetoric of Hitler's Battle". In The Philosophy of Literary Form: Studies in Symbolic Action. New York: Vintage. pp191-220. Reprinted Berkley, California: University of California Press. (1974). ISBN 0-520-02483-4
• Burke, Kenneth. (1969). A Rhetoric of Motives. Berkley, California: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-01546-0
• Girard, Rene. (1987). Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
• Wink, Walter. (1992). Engaging the Powers, Minneapolis: Fortress Press.