Burke, Kenneth

Kenneth Burke was an American literary critic and philosopher of language.

Kenneth Burke was an American writer of short stories, historical dramas, and criticism, as well as a poet, and translator.

Professor from Andover, N.J.

Kenneth Burke, well-known as a twentieth-century literary critic and philosopher of language, was especially influential in areas of rhetorical, cultural, and communication studies.

Kenneth Burke (Columbia student, 1916-17), author of poems, short stories, literary and music criticism, and books in the behavioral sciences. Teacher of literary criticism at Bennington College for over 15 years, he later settled in New Jersey to dedicate his time to writing and to lecturing at different educational intitutions.

Kenneth Burke was a poet, essayist, reviewer, novelist, translator, social commentator, and writer of short stories. But Burke was more widely known in scholarly circles as a philosopher of language, and his ever-fertile writings have continued to influence contemporary thought, particularly in areas of rhetoric, philosophy, literary theory, cultural studies, and communication studies.

Lily Mary Batterham Burke was born in Asheville, North Carolina, on 4 July 1891, daughter of English parents, Harry Batterham and Eleanor Ann Forster. Lily Batterham earned a degree in education from North Carolina Normal and then in 1916 a B.A. and in 1917 an M.A. in mathematics from Ohio State University. Sometime after graduating, she worked as an assistant at Bell Laboratories, at the edge of Greenwich Village on Hudson Street, New York City. As a young woman Lily also taught mathematics in secondary education and in later years worked as a business secretary. On 17 May 1919, Lily Mary Batterham and Kenneth Duva Burke were married and had three daughters: Jeanne Elspeth "Dutchie" (1920), Eleanor Duva "Happy" (1922), and Frances Batterham "Jake" (1926). In November 1933 Lily and Kenneth Burke divorced. Lily Batterham Burke died 9 June 1961, in New York City and is buried in Asheville, North Carolina.

Kenneth Burke was a poet, essayist, reviewer, novelist, translator, social commentator, and writer of short stories. But Burke was more widely known in scholarly circles as a philosopher of language, and his ever-fertile writings have continued to influence contemporary thought, particularly in areas of rhetoric, philosophy, literary theory, cultural studies, and communication studies.

William Howe Rueckert taught at the University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois, from 1957 to 1965; the University of Rochester, Rochester, New York, from 1966 to 1975; and the State University of New York at Geneseo, beginning in 1975. In May 1990, Rueckert was elected the first president of the Kenneth Burke Society. Through his writings and editions William H. Rueckert introduced Burke's writings to a wide scholarly audience.

Kenneth Burke, well-known as a twentieth-century literary critic and philosopher of language, was especially influential in areas of rhetorical, cultural, and communication studies.

At Southern Illinois University, Charles L. Elkins was a student of the sociologist Hugh Duncan, a colleague and student of Kenneth Burke. Through this association Elkins first came to meet Kenneth Burke when he was assigned to drive Kenneth Burke to and from St. Louis for Burke's speaking engagements at Carbondale. After Duncan died in 1970, Elkins, in need of a recommendation, renewed contact with Burke in 1971, and subsequent letters reveal that during the later 1970s and early 1980s Elkins and Burke attended some of the same conferences. The highpoint of their interactions, documented with photographs, occurred when Burke visited Florida International University from January to March 1978 where Elkins taught.