Kairos , Free Speech, and the Material Conditions of State Power in the United States: The Case of World War I

Advances in the History of Rhetoric Jul 2015

Kairos , Free Speech, and the Material Conditions of State Power in the United States: The Case of World War I

Mary Anne Trasciatti

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article considers versions of kairos within the context of World War I and the 1917 Espionage Act, a U.S. law that significantly narrowed parameters for free speech to protect the national interest. Many political activists and pacifists who perceived the war as an opportune moment for a critique of state power and corporate interests suffered material consequences for making such a critique—or remained silent for fear of consequences. While affirming the materiality of kairos and the centrality of body performance, I suggest an expanded version embodying the principle that freedom to respond to kairotic moments is always a product of struggle.

Journal: Advances in the History of Rhetoric
Published: 2015-07-03
DOI: 10.1080/15362426.2015.1081530
CompPile: Search in CompPile ↗
Topics: argument

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (1)

Geraths (2017)

Early Christian Rhetoric(s) In Situ

Advances in the History of Rhetoric

Cites in this index (0)

No references match articles in this index.

Also cites 5 works outside this index ↓

Curtis (2000)

Free Speech, The People’s Darling Privilege: Struggles for Freedom of Expression in Ameri…

↗
Endres (2011)

Location Matters: The Rhetoric of Place in Protest

Quarterly Journal of Speech ↗
Hauser (2012)

Prisoners of Conscience: Moral Vernaculars of Political Agency

↗
Kennedy (2004)

Over Here: The First World War and American Society, 25th anniv

↗
Trasciatti (2013)

Athens or Anarchy? Soapbox Oratory and the Early Twentieth-Century American City

Buildings and Landscapes: Journal of the Vernacular Architecture Society ↗

CrossRef global citation count: 3 View in citation network →

<i>Kairos</i> , Free Speech, and the Material Conditions of State Power in the United States: The Case of World War I

Abstract

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (1)

Cites in this index (0)

Related Articles