“Rhetoric,”“Logic,” and “Poetics” in Burundi: Culture Patterning of Speech Behavior1

Abstract

LEIKE other universal categories of human behavior, speech is the object of diverse, complementary specializations. In the context of the ethnography of speaking, not only the language spoken but also the uses of speech may be assumed to have distinctive culture patterns. Ideally, total anthropological description of the pattern of a culture could well' include its rules and uses of speech, their implementation and violation, and relevant sanctions, positive and negative. Conversely, when inquiry is focused on cultural patterns of speech behavior, the proper context is the whole culture pattern. Major intracultural variations in the uses of speech may be assumed to be systematically related to the constituents of culture patterns, including aspects of the social structure, cultural definitions of the situations of action, the cultural philosophy and value system, and their patterned interrelations. Speech is so important and pervasive in any society that at least those with a reputation for wisdom or success are probably capable of stating the norms that govern the uses of speech. Moreover, enculturation includes instruction of the young not only in the mechanics of speaking but also in the patterns of speech behavior. Hence, virtually any adult and probably many young people are potential sources of relevant information, direct or inferential. The traditional kingdom of Burundi2 offers a particularly fortunate case study of culture patterning of speech behavior. Speech is explicitly recognized as an important instrument of social life; eloquence is one of the central values of the cultural world-view; and the way of life affords frequent opportunity for its exercise. Sensitivity to the variety and complexity of speech behavior is evident in a rich vocabulary for its description and evaluation and in a constant flow of speech about speech. Argument, debate, and negotiation, as well as elaborate literary forms are built into the organization of society as means of gaining one's ends, as social status symbols, and as skills enjoyable in themselves. A highly secularized, sophisticated feudal kingdom with a population of approximately two million, traditional Burundi has well-defined criteria of rhetoric, logic, and poetics, and well-developed ideas about their uses and interrelations. The norms governing the uses of speech are explicitly differentiated according to caste, sex, and age, so that the relations of speech behavior to social structure are easily grasped by observers. Formalization and stylization of speech situations are extensive and elaborate, suggesting ways in which the uses of language are conditioned by culturally distinctive conceptions of situational appropriateness. Esthetic criteria are well developed and pervasive in their range of relevance. Explicit concern with the values of truth and falsity and their situa-