Analyzing narratives of expertise: Toward the development of a Burkeian pentadic scheme

Recent work in the sociology of professions highlights the central importan ce of abstract discourse in professionalization processes. Drawing on the w ork of Kenneth Burke, I argue that broadening the focus of analysis from "a bstract discourse" to "narratives of expertise" will provide the ability to (1) more clearly analyze the social conditions that are conducive to the e fficacy of abstraction as a basis for a claim of expertise and (2) theorize and empirically examine the formation and maintenance of a collective prof essional identity. To assist in the reformulation of professionalization st udies around narratives of expertise, I develop a modified extension of Bur ke's five key terms of dramatism (act, agent, scene, agency, and purpose). Burke's pentadic scheme enables researchers to show how narratives of exper tise ground jurisdictional claims and the constitution of professional iden tity in one of the elements of pentad. I illustrate the empirical power of the pentadic scheme through an examination of claims of psychotherapeutic e xpertise, particularly claims of marital and familial expertise.