Definition:
As defined by rhetorician Kenneth Burke in A Rhetoric of Motives (1950), "any of the wide variety of means by which an author may establish a shared sense of values, attitudes, and interests with his readers."
Of course, as Burke goes on to maintain, "identification is affirmed with earnestness . . . precisely because there is division." Contrast with Confrontational Rhetoric.
See also:
- Argument
- Burkean Parlor
- Common Ground
- Dramatism
- Ethopoeia
- Ethos
- New Rhetoric
- Pentad
- Persuasion
- Rogerian Argument
Etymology:
From Latin, "the same"Examples and Observations:
- "Friendship, lust, love, art, religion--we rush into them pleading, fighting, clamoring for the touch of spirit laid against our spirit. Why else would you be reading this fragmentary page--you with the book in your lap? You're not out to learn anything, certainly. You just want the healing action of some chance corroboration, the soporific of spirit laid against spirit."
(E. B. White, "Hot Weather." One Man's Meat, 1944) - "Rhetoric . . . works its symbolic magic through identification. It can bring people together by emphasizing the 'margin of overlap' between the rhetor's and the audience's experiences."
(R. L. Heath, "Identification." The Encyclopedia of Rhetoric, ed. T. O. Sloane. Oxford Univ. Press, 2001) - "Great News! The Free Year Certificate enclosed is guaranteed to bring you a Free Year of MAXIM. . . .
"It has your name on it and can only be used by you.
"Why?
"Because MAXIM is written for you. Especially for guys like you. MAXIM speaks your language and knows your fantasies. You're the Man and MAXIM knows it!
"MAXIM is here to make your life better in every way! Hot women, cool cars, cold beer, high tech toys, hilarious jokes, intense sports action, . . . in short, your life will be SUPERSIZED."
(subscription sales pitch for Maxim magazine) - "It is amusing to discover, in the 20th century, that the quarrels between two lovers, two mathematicians, two nations, two economic systems, usually assumed insoluble in a finite period should exhibit one mechanism, the semantic mechanism of identification--the discovery of which makes universal agreement possible, in mathematics and in life."
(Alfred Korzybski) - "You're an improbable person, Eve, and so am I. We have that in common. Also a contempt for humanity, an inability to love and be loved, insatiable ambition--and talent. We deserve each other . . . and you realize and you agree how completely you belong to me?"
(George Sanders as Addison DeWitt in the film All About Eve, 1950)
Pronunciation: i-DEN-ti-fi-KAY-shun
