On the Facts of the Text as the Basis of Human Communication Research

Abstract

The notion of “text” has emerged as an important and controversial frame for postmodern social inquiry (see, for example, the collection of essays in Baynes, Bohman, & McCarthy, 1987). While offering a particular angle on “textuality” and building on Kenneth Burke’s (1954/1964) method of “indexing,” this essay argues for the literal application of “the text” to human communication research. In this line of argument, the predicament of the (social) researcher, as well as that of the social actor, is seen as being one of “intertextuality.” Such claims are advanced in the interest of bringing more closely together “humanistic” and “scientific” approaches to the study of human relations. The essay includes a critical-analytical illustration of Burkean indexing with respect to a historic document: the U.S. Catholic bishops’ 1983 pastoral letter, The Challenge of Peace.

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