A Sense of Place

     I was intrigued by Thomas Rickert's "Invention in the Wild" and the discussion of the place as well as the timing for kairos. I was trying to think of examples of a situation where you could seize an opportunity but didn't need to be in a specific place. I couldn't come up with any. You can only steer a boat on a boat, and more specifically, while you are out at sea with the sea tossing and turning around you, as Hawk refers to Atwill in his "Toward a Post-Techne" (381). However, thinking back to the discussion of President Obama's speech in Cooper's "Rhetorical Agency as Emergent and Enacted" I wondered if his speech, because of technology, would have had the same impact were it given from just anywhere.

     Because of technology Obama could have given his speech from just about anywhere. His aides and speechwriters could construct a set to make it look like Obama was in the Oval Office, if they wanted. They could also just find a nice professional, presidential backdrop to film in front of. However, does his location in the world, not just the backdrop, matter? Let's say that Obama was in China at the time of giving the speech. He was there on a diplomatic trip and wanted to address the remarks made by Reverend Wright quickly and he did not want to leave for home early and risk offending the Chinese people. Would his speech have been so well received? Perhaps. I would guess that yes, the speech would have been well received by the American people even from across the globe. It was the (approximate) appropriate time to address the situation and comments that had been made. Obama was making the speech from far away for a reason Americans could rationalize.

     Let's say instead that Obama had been on vacation with his family in the Caribbean. Would the speech have been well received then? I would guess perhaps not. If there was a crisis that needed addressing so badly that Obama had decided to address the whole nation, why would he be on vacation in the first place? Perhaps is was planned before the scandal? Then, he should have canceled it, right? So perhaps location can be just about anywhere, but the reason (exigence?) for being in that location is what matters now. It might be all right if Obama had been on a diplomatic trip, but a trip for pleasure would probably have been unacceptable.

     Later in his article, Rickert discusses Dr. Blakesley's take on the film The Usual Suspects and says "that the ambient environs invent us in kairotic moments" (85). So how would the ability to be (almost) anywhere and broadcast a presidential speech affect the speech being given? How would being in China affect the speech versus being "at home" in the Oval Office? Or how would being in the Caribbean affect the speech?