KAIROS: Layers of Meaning

The name of this journal did not come without careful consideration or intention.
Kairos, the ancient Greek term that can roughly be interpreted as a rhetorical
combination of understood context and proper timing, carries exciting new
implications in our developing rhetorics of hypertext and online communication. And
as we borrow this ancient term for this new journal, we hope to call upon some of
the many layers of meaning associated with this powerful word.

This hypertext, reconstructed from an essay written by Mick Doherty, offers a

number of different paths readers may follow while exploring some of the historical
and modern meanings and implications of the term kairos. While many of the nodes of
this hypertext are interlinked, we offer the following starting points:

Modern Rebirth of Kairos (situation, theory, technology)

The concept of "rescuing" classical terminology to re-invent a developing rhetoric

is not new; as James Baumlin has pointed out, "other ages . . . have tried to
resuscitate classical rhetorical methods, and have often refined and applied the
concepts in ways their classical predecessors had not anticipated" (174). Nor could
the ancients have aniticipated the way a term like "kairos" might be a defining
factor in constructing a discursive argument with a faceless, yet, immediate,
interactive audience.

While "kairos" has not, as yet, been discussed in terms of computer technology, the
term has re-emerged in the modern rhetorical academy, primarily due to the work of
James Kinneavy, who re-introduced it as meaning, roughly, "situational context."
But the word has multiple meanings, each lending itself to multiple
interpretations.

Kinneavy, with Catherine Eskin, has provided something of a framework for diving
into into the semantic and linguistic subtleties of interpretation of the original
Greek in "Kairos in Aristotle's Rhetoric." While Kinneavy reiterates his belief
that Kairos has been a "neglected concept" (cf. 1986) in the field of rhetorical
studies, he and Eskin assert that it has become a more acceptable term to utilize,
due primarily--and ironically, given the ideas and processes which have generated
this journal--to "timely advances in computer-aided referencing." (Kinneavy and
Eskin 132)

Historical Connotations

With the increased interest in classical rhetoric over the past few decades, our
field is deep within a revival of the terminology of that rhetorical era. The name
of this journal, Kairos, is just one example of an ancient term that has regained
popularity in contemporary theory. As scholars such as Corbett and Kennedy warn us,
however, we need to be cautious in appropriating classical terminology. In addition
to the variations in meaning that come with any translations, we are also dealing
with terms that were originally deeply embedded within cultural contexts and their
unique metaphors. Part of the purpose of this web, then, is to explore some of
those contexts and meanings that surrounded--and still inform-- the term kairos;
such understanding is sure to add significance to our journal's name.

There are numerous starting points within this web, the paths of which cross
threads with other paths along their ways. Here are a few places to begin your
exploration of the history of the word kairos:

Metaphor
Many of the original meanings of kairos are based on metaphors or analogies rooted
in within ancient Greek culture. This link begins to explore those metaphors.
Etymology
Kairos also has its roots in other cultural and legal contexts. This link explores
these other origins of kairos and its related terms.

Etymology

Kairos was one of two Greek terms often used to mean "time"; the other, chronos,
had a distinctly quantitative meaning. Kairos was a more qualitative term, as per
culturally-based analogies to archery and/or weaving--however, it maintained an
element of ethical balance. As Carl Glover points out, Kinneavy's "conclusions and
classroom applications of kairos ignore . . . the chronos/kairos distinction" (91).
Nonetheless, for definitional purposes it is easy to see how Kinneavy arrived at
"situational context." In some scholarly translations of both Plato and Aristotle,
karoi is roughly equivalent to entautha + pote irois which has been translated as
"circumstances." Kinneavy and Eskin note that "kairos" mediates the theoria/praxis
distinction outlined in Plato's Phaedrus.

Aristotle more commonly used the term poia , meaning "occasions" or (sometimes)
"reasons," which is less forceful than the meaning implied in "kairos." However,
Aristotle did see great value in the concept of kairos - particularly in the
Athenian courtroom, where the great rhetoricians of the day battled over
epieikeia , the legal concept of equity which best translates to "kairic law."

Metaphor and Analogy

Eric Charles White wrote in 1987:

Kairos is an ancient Greek word that means "the right moment'" or "the opportune."
The two meanings of the word apparently come from two different sources. In
archery, it refers to an opening, or "opportunity" or, more precisely, a long
tunnel-like aperture through which the archer's arrow has to pass. Successful
passage of a kairos requires, therefore, that the archer's arrow be fired not only
accurately but with enough power for it to penetrate. The second meaning of kairos
traces to the art of weaving. There it is "the critical time" when the weaver must
draw the yarn trough a gap that momentarily opens in the warp of the cloth being
woven. Putting the two meanings together, one might understand kairos to refer to a
passing instant when an opening appears which must be driven through with force if
success is to be achieved. (White 13)

In both senses, an artist (an archer, a weaver, an orator) must seize upon the
crucial moment to perform accurately and skillfully in order to achieve a goal. The
archer will connect suddenly and impactfully with his target; the weaver will forge
a lasting bond upon which he can later build. It should not surprise, then, that
the sophists seized upon "kairos" as a term defining the goal of effective
communication.

To recognize the audience quickly and make a lasting first impression worked hand-
in-glove with building a rhetor/audience bond that would last at least through the
duration of the argument at hand. Aristotle himself identifies kairos as
intrinsically related to audience--that is, it is important to get the attention of
the audience, but to occasionally choose a moment to re-awaken them to the
attention of the speaker. That moment, recognized, chosen and acted upon, is
kairotic or interchangeably, kairic.

The Rhetorical Situation

Before defining "most effective use" in terms of rhetoric and kairos, there is a
further question: is the rhetor recognizing the kairos of the situation, or
creating it? The rhetorical situation--that perhaps-mythical creation debated by
Lloyd Bitzer and Richard Vatz in Philosophy and Rhetoric almost a quarter of a
century ago--defined here demands a dual perspective of what kairos might mean.
Carolyn Miller addressed the problem by pointing to the distinctions beteen kairos
and chronos:

Bitzer's objectivism insists that the situation exists independent of the

demands on the rhetor . . . Richard Vatz offers another perspective, suggesting
that situations are created by rhetors; thus, by implication, any moment in time
has a kairos, a unique potential that a rhetor can grasp and make something
of . . . . These two perspectives on situation can be clarified by contrasting the
two Greek terms for time, chronos, the quantitative term, and kairos, the
qualitative term. (Miller 312)

Given this appropriate distinction, we can begin to see kairos even in terms of
Consigny's meaningful demarcation of "tool" and "realm." The proper time (the
kairos) for presenting an argument may be seen as something the speaker grasps and
utilizes (a tool) or a situation in which the speaker exists and recognizes (a
realm). In a very real way this brings us all the way back to the original
weaving/archery terminology associated with kairos; an archer must recognize the
situation and attack it very precisely, while a weaver is in the midst of creating
his own (coming full circle to Kinneavy) situational context. This should not be
construed as an either/or situation; Miller herself returns to the archery/weaving
references to kairos by concluding, "we should remember that an opening can be
constructed as well as discovered." (Miller 313)

It is cogent to point out here that a postmodern twist to the Bitzer/Vatz argument
would almost certainly require a siding with Vatz, whose argument can at least be
construed as social construction; Miller implicitly does so by aligning Bitzer with
chronos in her description. Ironically, to do so is to deny the very essence of
kairic argument; in certain contexts (peristaseis), depending upon both the chronos
and kairos of the situation, both arguments (while not orthon) can be true.

Kairos as Tool, Kairos as Realm

Clark et al. (in progress) have utilized Scott Consigny's examination of

Aristotelian and Ciceronian topoi to argue that "any technological artifact . . .
can be seen as both a tool--something functional or working in the world, and as a
realm--a reconceptualized worldview with the theory/technology foregrounded."

Hypertext provides us an immediate example of both tool and realm. Hypertextual

programs can be seen as tools for composition, while hypertext is its own realm of
writing, requiring unique ways of thinking and composing.

Technological Connections

So, how are kairos and technology related? And why is kairos such an appropriate
term for this hypertextual journal?

Simply put, technology has both sped up and changed written communication, opening
up new senses of context and timeliness for writers. As numerous scholars
(Hawisher, Selfe, Moran, Johnson-Eilola, Doherty, et al) have noted, e-mail and
other online writing present both writers and readers with unique new rhetorical
contexts:

We read screens differently than we do paper, so presentation must be adjusted

accordingly.
The speed of sending e-mail or "publishing" a Web document allows for exciting
immediacy and currency of content.
 The writing/reading act becomes more interactive with the ease of e-mail
response.
Hypertext and multimedia allow for a larger view of "composition."
The social dynamics of the writing/reading act are changed when more people
consider themselves to be "writers" or "authors." The nature and ease of
"publishing" adds to these changes.

But what exactly does Kairos have to do with kairos?

This new journal has a great deal to do with kairos, particularly in terms of its
appropriateness and timeliness in our field at this time. As we are discovering the
value of hypertextual and other online writing, it is not only important to have a
forum for exploring this growing type of composition, but it is essential that we
have a webbed forum within which to hold those conversations. With this journal,
the Kairos staff and authors intend to push many envelopes--of theory and pedagogy,
of technology, of composition, and of professional scholarship--at a time when
these efforts are vital to continued growth of our field. In essense, we've tried
to make this the most kairotic journal we could.