Bakhtin vs. Burke in the Rhetoric of Hitler

            Throughout our discussion with language and style in class, we constantly have questioned the power of language. Language can cause many movements to take place through analytical speaking. Bakhtin argues that style is language, "that to create a style is to create a language for oneself" (598).  Bakhtin then goes onto explain that "language both creates and is created by human intelligence" (598). These two quotes throughout the class discussion made us ponder modern examples of what Bakhtin exactly was talking about.  Bakhtin's  rhetorical triangle states that by invoking speaker, hero, listener (596)  it becomes  less clear who's the subject and  who's the object. When thinking about Bakhtin's rhetorical triangle, I noticed what he meant in Burke's, "The Rhetoric of Hitler's Battle." The evil man himself practiced rhetorical speaking in such a way that influenced  "the Aryans." "Hitler's 'Battle' is exasperating, even nauseating; yet the fact remains: if the reviewer but knocks off a few adverse attitudinizing and calls it a day, with a guaranty in advance that his article will have a favorable reception among the decent members of our population, he is contributing more to our gratification than to our enlightenment" ( Burke 191). 

          Bakhtin's dialogue involves three elements: speak, listen and influence each other equivalently. Hitler in a way can parallel Bakhtin's dialogue through speech and influence to the Aryan people. "The symbol of a common enemy, the Prince of Evil himself. Men who can unite on nothing else can unite on the basis of a foe shared by all" (Burke 193).  Hitler's dialogue presented to the Aryans moved  them  in such a way that provoked  horrid violence causing a horrific turning point in history. Burke states, "the more uniformly the fighting will of a people is put into action, the greater will be the magnetic force of the movement and the more powerful the impetus of the blow" (193). The Aryans that followed Hitler gave up their will and listened to Hitler in order to contain a voice in society that would better their lives. Through rhetorical speech, Hitler  focused on style rather than content in order to provoke an emotion out of the Aryans. His speech ultimately states that Aryan is "constructive"; the Jew is "destructive"; and the "Aryan," to continue his construction, must destroy the Jewish destruction (Burke 204).  Hitler further states that, "the Aryan, as the vessel of love, must hate the Jewish hate" (Burke 204).

           

         Bakhtin states that language is a medium "which expresses the continuous energy of its speakers"; "words carry with them their own histories, previous, and potential significations" (597).  Burke outlines the process that Hitler used to provoke an energy throughout the Aryans that made them follow Hitler. Burke states that Hitler used a "unification  device" that fell under four different categories. The first device of unification that Hitler used was inborn dignity. For this,  "Hitler gives this ennobling attitude an ominous twist by his theories of race and nation, whereby the 'Aryan' is elevated above all other "races," in particular Jews and Negroes, are innately inferior" (Burke 202). The dialogical language that Bakhtin talks about explains different syntaxes and styles of language. The style that Hitler used when speaking about religion alters the content to a way that fits his overall outlook. The second device that explains unification is the projection device. The projection device that Hitler incorporated into his speech is a "curative" process. "...the ability to hand over one's ills to a scapegoat, thereby getting purification by dissociation. And the greater one's internal inadequacies, the greater the amount of evils one can load upon the back of 'the enemy' (Burke 203). The third device Hitler navigated to the Aryans is the concept of symbolic rebirth. Hitler convinced the Aryans that since he was the group's prophet, such rebirth involved a symbolic change of lineage (Burke 203). Again, the style of language that Hitler used unfortunately caused death to the Jewish lineage. The final process of Hitler's unification that Burke explains is commercial use. Hitler used commercial use to attack "Jew Finance" instead of finance, it could stimulate an enthusiastic movement that left "Aryan" finance in control (Burke 203).

        If Bakhtin were to look at Hitler's unification process in a rhetorical light, it is fair to say that Bakhtin would look at the performative nature of language of the evil man. The style of Hitler's language allowed for words to circulate new ideas into the Aryans mindset. Bakhtin states that, "language can  have/show different intentions" (298).  Hitler constructed a new social typifying language that brainwashed  the Aryans into following  him. Burke states that, "as a result, he could spontaneously turn  to a scapegoat mechanism, by conscious planning, perfect the symmetry of the solution towards which he had spontaneously turned" (211). There is no doubt that Hitler was a purely evil man, but he did grasp the concept of the power and style of language. 

-Anjelica MacGregor