Thinking through Terministic Screens

Kenneth Burke, in Terministic Screens, argues that all terminology is selective and therefore “reflects” and “deflects” reality in terms of ideology (45). One’s choice of terms communicate implications and interpretations that are unspoken but understood through the terms selected (49). With that said, chosen terms can allow an observer to quickly categorize a speaker/writer into their corresponding school (be it theology, Darwinism, philosophy, psychology, etc.) without their explicitly saying so. Burke categorizes all mankind to be “symbol users” who create relationships with reality through symbols and language (48).  He uses this argument to question any given person’s perception of reality, as it is limited to “our profound and inveterate involvement in symbol systems,” (48). 

A “terministic screen,” then, “screens” reality through a chosen set of related terms that correspond with one or more specific ideologies. Therefore, Burke argues that they are absolutely necessary for us, “since we can’t say anything without the use of terms,” that “reflect” and “deflect” reality to match our perception (50). Burke says that “terministic screens” direct the specific “attention” implied by a speaker away from other potential channels (45). So the “reflection” that he describes has to do with a speaker’s intended direction whereas the “deflection” has to do with the other potential directions that weren’t taken. This implies the fact that an entire reality cannot be explicitly communicated or described by an author, as every term used is connected to some sort of ideology or philosophy. 

It is entirely probable that terministic screens govern episteme. For example mainstream usage of language implies a shared, though broad and generalized, ideology that is understood clearly within the culture. When more specific terms are used in conversation under our supposed generalized episteme, then the observer can easily distinguish the speaker’s screen. In my understanding, the awareness of terministic screens makes it possible to determine one another’s intentions and marks the observer’s deductive approach to the speaker’s topic.