Kenneth Burke's Words.

The article analyzes the semiotic proposals of Kenneth Burke in his essay "What Are the Signs of What? A Theory of Entitlement." The essay is characterized by Burke as an experiment tentatively tried for heuristic purposes and concedes that his proposal reverses the usual realistic view of the relation between words and things. This analysis specifically focuses on Burke's reversal of signifiers and signifieds and the larger concept of human language use that underwrites this proposal. The relationship of nonverbal things to verbal essences as enigmatic symbolism, according to Burke, is also analyzed.