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The Dramatistic Action of Language in Thomas Kyd’s The Spanish Tragedy
ZHANG Ting
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DOI:10.17265/2159-5836/2015.03.001
Sichuan International Studies University, Chongqing, China
Kenneth Burke’s rhetoric on language as a symbolic action offers an enlightening perspective for revealing the connection between the motivations and actions of the characters in Thomas Kyd’s The Spanish Tragedy. This work is a Renaissance drama that features hues of rhetorical language. Linguistic obfuscation, scapegoat mechanism, and the malfunction and dysfunction of language in victimization and revenge are thrown into relief through Burke’s elaborate system of the symbolism of language. Analyzing the discursive performances of the main characters, readers could get clues of their motives that drive their actions, which are both a representation and an illustration of how language as a symbolic action works in literature.
The Spanish Tragedy, discursive performance, Kenneth Burke, symbolic action, terministic screen
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