Mapping US Humanitarian Aid: A Pentadic Cartography of Michael Leavitt'sHealth Diplomacy

Abstract

Anderson and Prelli argued that pentadic cartography could be used to examine the motivational vocabularies of discourses and to provide alternative vocabularies for negotiating rhetorical terrains. Applications of pentadic cartography have used Kenneth Burke's principles to examine and critique the motivational vocabularies of a variety of texts but have less often mapped proposed alternative vocabularies. This article expands the application of pentadic cartography by demonstrating the value of a full mapping process. This study examines two potential mappings of former Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael Leavitt's speech outlining US health diplomacy. Two maps are generated: a pragmatic map centered on an agency-purpose ratio and an idealist map centered on an agent-act ratio. Each mapping is assessed for its abilities to open and to close the universe of discourse. The importance of fully mapping humanitarian discourses is outlined.