‘From disaster, miracles are wrought’: a narrative analysis of UK media depictions of remote GP consulting in the COVID-19 pandemic using Burke’s pentad

During crises (major events characterised by uncertainty, urgency and threat), society must make sense of rapidly unfolding events. This happens mainly through narrativising—depicting a setting, characters and a meaningful sequence of events and actions unfolding over time. In the early months of the pandemic, UK general practice shifted from face-to-face consultations to a remote-by-default model (telephone, video or e-consultation). This shift was initially widely accepted by press and public, but support waned after a politician declared that the change would be permanent. We invoke Burke’s dramatistic pentad of act, scene, agent, agency and purpose to theorise findings from a detailed analysis of media coverage of the remote-by-default policy and reactions to it. We consider the 12 weeks from March to June 2020 (first lockdown, when remote-by-default services had just been introduced) and 1 week from late July 2020 (following the ministerial announcement). The initial introduction of remote consulting had strong narrative coherence in which all parts of the pentad were balanced: scene (a deadly virus threatening the country) aligned with act (lockdown, including avoiding face-to-face appointments unless essential), agents (the National Health Service and digital technology as heroic macro-actors), agency (general practitioners ‘deployed’) and purpose (to control the pandemic). The later period, however, was characterised by a mismatch between scene (a country emerging from lockdown and resuming normal life), act (imposition of the remote model), agent (a politician known for his enthusiasm for technology), agency (top-down directive) and purpose (modernisation). Whereas media narratives in the first period aligned with the genre of heroic adventure (suggesting a worthy battle, bravely fought), those of the second had characteristics of farce (something both comic and grotesque). We conclude that close reading of media narratives may surface potential misalignments between policy decisions and the context in which they must be implemented.

Joel’s Self-Redemption in the Unnatural Narrative Structure of Charlie Kaufman’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

This essay discusses the significance of the unnatural narrative structure in Charlie Kaufman’s screenplay Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004). Oftentimes, the screenplay’s reverse chronology is studied as a backdrop to accentuate its thematic values of personal identity and memory. However, this study argued that the reverse narrative was caused by the protagonist’s self-redemption journey. To achieve this objective, two components of Kenneth Burke’s dramatism theory, dramatistic pentad and guilt-redemption cycle were utilized. The pentadic analysis explored the connection between the main characters’ actions and motives with the structure of the text while also interpreting the implication of its reverse narrative from the framework of guilt-redemption cycle. From the findings, the study affirms that the screenplay’s unnatural narrative structure i.e. reverse chronology integrally founded the narrative structure of the text by representing Joel’s regret in a sequence of guilt-redemption cycle. As a result, it showcases the versatility of dramatism theory as one of the analytical tools for narrative studies particularly on the unnatural narrative structure of screenplay texts.

Analisis Dramatistic Pentad pada Film Crazy Rich Asians (2018) sebagai Antitesis Pandangan Orientalisme

Penelitian ini berfokus pada film Crazy Rich Asians (2018) sebagai representasi antitesis akan konsep orientalisme yang dikritik oleh Edward Said. Metode penelitian yang digunakan adalah metode kualitatif dengan teknik analisis dramatistik pentad dari Kenneth Burke. Melalui penelitian ini disimpulkan bahwa bangsa Asia mampu merepresentasikan dirinya dalam perfilman Barat. Melalui film sebagai industri media yang efektif untuk menyebarkan pesan bahwa Singapura bukanlah bangsa yang terbelakang, biadab, eksotis, dan berbahaya serta adanya benturan kebudayaan antara Barat (occident) dan Asia (orient).

Analisis Dramatistic Pentad Unsur Konsumerisme Dalam Film They Live 1988

Penelitian ini menggunakan metode kualitatif dengan teknik analisa pentad dramatisme Kenneth Burke. Di penelitian ini, meneliti film They Live yang mengandung adegan-adegan yang menggambarkan bagaimana konsumerisme mempengaruhi kehidupan masyarakat dan terdapat relevansi tentang apa yang digambarkan di dalam film They Live pada tahun 1988 tersebut dengan realita era masa kini. Penelitian ini mengkritik konsumerisme, suatu pemahaman yang dimana individu atau kelompok secara sadar melakukan kegiatan konsumsi barang-barang hasil produksi yang berlebihan, kemudian menumbuhkan efek candu pada manusia terhadap suatu produk yang berakibat pada sulitnya menghilangkan sifat ketergantungan dan candu pada produk itu. Hal tersebut sama seperti yang dikemukakan oleh Jean Baudrillard sebagai kritik terhadap konsumerisme bahwa terdapat realita semu pada masyarakat posmodern. Namun tanpa disadari, nilai-nilai tersebut sudah menyebar luas dalam berbagai media massa, salah satunya film. Berdasarkan latar belakang tersebut penulis melakukan kajian terhadap film They Live guna melihat bagaimana film tersebut menggambarkan unsur konsumerisme.

Representasi Imigran Timur dalam Film The Visitor

The film is a depiction of meaning made in visual form. The study aims to see the representation of eastern immigrants in The Visitor. Motivated by the 9/11 event which took place in New York, the United States that made a negative stigma of eastern immigrants, the film tells the friendship between Western and Eastern people. Researchers use Dramatistic Pentad analysis to see how Eastern immigrant representations are displayed using act, scene, agent, agency, and purpose analyses. Researchers also used the theory of Orientalism by Edward Said to see Eastern and Western depictions. Researchers examined the six scenes in The Visitor film, using qualitative data analysis. The results showed that the film gave a positive image of eastern immigrants to change the negative perception of Western peoples towards Muslims.

A pentadic model of semiotic analysis

Kenneth Burke’s dramatistic pentad can be understood as a pentadic model of semiotic analysis. Dyadic, triadic, and other relational models offer valuable benefits, but Burke’s pentad is especially useful and relevant given its focus on both action and motive/purpose. Here we will look in more detail at some of these benefits of Burke’s schema understood in this semiotic light, and then we’ll apply the model to a few examples of object analysis. If it is true that Burke’s pentad works in this way as well as we think it does, then fruitful ground exists here for other researchers as well, particularly since Burke’s pentadic model features much less in the field of semiotics proper than do more common dyadic and triadic based models.

Populism and exclusionary narratives: The ‘other’ in Podemos’ 2014 European Union election campaign

Populist political parties have become a key feature of the European political landscape. In addition to claiming to be identified with the people, many of these parties are characterized by exclusionary narratives which centre on groups such as immigrants and religious minorities, a feature considered by many analysts as specific to right-wing populism. Left-wing populism is frequently defined as sharing right-wing populism’s identification with the people and its anti-elitism but not its attachment to exclusionary narratives. This study joins other recent work in challenging that assumption, providing evidence for the contention that anti-elitism is also a form of excluding populist communication. Using Van Dijk’s methodological approach to the analysis of the discursive positioning of ‘Us/Them’ and elements of Burke’s dramatistic pentad, this article examines the party and electoral communication of Podemos, the self-described, left-wing populist Spanish political party, from its foundation in January 2014 up until the close of the European Union parliamentary election campaign in May 2014. The study shows that an exclusionary narrative was integral to Podemos’ campaign communication in that a group of people identified as the caste ( la casta) constituted the stigmatized out-group in contraposition to the in-group of the ‘people’ which included immigrants and the leaders of Podemos. This suggests that populist parties or politicians of all ideological stripes may be characterized by exclusionary and stigmatizing narratives.