Digital Detroit : rhetoric and space in the age of the network

264 Pages·2012·2.739 MB·English

by  Rice, Jeff R

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RICE
RHETORIC
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“In Digital Detroit, Jeff Rice demonstrates that the relatively static and II
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measurable boundaries that give a city the status of a territory do not II
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solely determine that city’s identity, which is being rewritten at each mo- AA
ment according to the dynamic relations of its inhabitants. Captivating LL

in its writing, compelling in its argument, and innovative in its method DD
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and performance, this book makes a major contribution to the rheto- TT DDeettrrooiitt
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rics of space and place, specifically, and to rhetorical theory and digital
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rhetorics more generally.” II
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—Diane Davis, author of Breaking Up [at] Totality: ::

A Rhetoric of Laughter and Inessential Solidarity RR
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“Digital Detroit is the soundstage, and screenplay, for a lost episode of TT
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The Twilight Zone: a rhetorical study in demise and irony, ironworks and RR
metal metonymy. Jeff Rice is a cross between Rod Serling and Bob Dylan, ICIC
writing from the rubble of a re-‘mixed up confusion’ that is Detroit in A A
the fifth dimension, tuning his keyboard somewhere on Wordward Ave. NN
RHETORIC AND SPACE IN THE AGE OF THE NET WORK
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This is road trip reading at its best.”

—Cynthia Haynes, associate professor of English, Clemson University SS
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n Digital Detroit, Jeff Rice works toward a theory and pedagogy of the
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network, attempting to create a rhetorical model that is conducive for I I
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electronic culture. Rice explores how a physical space—in this case, Detroit,

Michigan—can be seen as an interactive network. Cities and other spaces TT
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are often thought of in terms of their fixed locations on a map, but as Rice EE

explains, each point in space has historical, cultural, personal, and social AA
connections, some explicit, some implicit, which transform the spaces into GG
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something far more dynamic and complex than a geographical entity.  
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Jeff Rice holds the Martha B. Reynolds Endowed Professorship for Digital TT
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Media in the Division of Writing, Rhetoric, and Digital Media at the Univer-
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sity of Kentucky. The author of over twenty articles and chapters on rhetoric,
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composition, and new media, he also has authored or coedited four books, EE
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including The Rhetoric of Cool: Composition Studies and New Media. WW
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southern illinois university press KK
1915 university press drive
mail code 6806 $39.95 usd
isbn 0-8093-3087-3
carbondale, il 62901 US
www.siupress.com isbn 978-0-8093-3087-4 niveouth
Cover illustration: photography by author rsity Presern Illino
Printed in the United States of America sis
Rice mech.indd 1 12/15/11 11:18 AM
Digital Detroit

Digital
Detroit
rHetoriC aND SPaCe iN tHe age oF
tHe NetWorK
J e F F r i C e
Southern Illinois University Press
Carbondale and Edwardsville
Copyright © 2012 by the Board of Trustees,
Southern Illinois University
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
Previous versions of portions of this book were published
in the following articles: “Building Interfaces: The Mac-
cabees,” Pre/Text 20 (July 2009); “Woodward Paths: Mo-
torizing Space,” Technical Communication Quarterly 18.3
(July 2009), 224–41; “Urban Mapping: A Rhetoric of the
Network,” Rhetoric Society Quarterly 38.2 (March 2008),
copyright © 2008; “Networked Exchanges, Identity, Writ-
ing,” Journal of Business and Technical Communication 23.3
(July 2009), 294–317 (final, definitive version; Sage Publica-
tions, Inc., http://online.sagepub.com; all rights reserved);
and “Folksono(me),” JAC 28 (August 2008), 181–208.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Rice, Jeff, 1969–
Digital Detroit : rhetoric and space in the age of the network
/ Jeff Rice.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-8093-3087-4 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-8093-3087-3 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN-13: 978-0-8093-3088-1 (ebook)
ISBN-10: 0-8093-3088-1 (ebook)
1. Mass media—Philosophy. 2. Digital communications—
Philosophy. 3. Rhetoric—Philosophy. 4. Rhetoric—
Michigan—Detroit. I. Title.
P91.3.R523 2012
302.2309774'34—dc23 2011022745
Printed on recycled paper.
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum
requirements of American National Standard for Informa-
tion Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library
Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.
To Jenny
To Vered
To Judah
You are my network.

CoNteNtS
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
1
Networks, Place, and Rhetoric 15
2
Woodward Avenue 56
3
The Maccabees 102
4
The Michigan Central Train Station 143
5
8 Mile 186
Notes 231
Works Cited 235
Index 245

illuStratioNS
Beginning mapping with a moment of pleasure 25
Detroit decay juxtaposed with the hope of rejuvenation 40
Google Maps path from Ferndale to Detroit 47
Looking south down Woodward from the Maccabees Building, 1942 58
Author’s father in his Model T 61
Woodward Avenue, Highland Park 72
Bob Dylan flipping cue cards in Pennebaker’s Don’t Look Back 79
Malice Green Memorial, Warren Avenue 85
Detroit Day 90
Dylan as folksono(me) 99
Fading school marquee in the Maccabees entrance 103
The Maccabees 104
Tunnel between terminals in Detroit Metro Airport 116
Interior of the Maccabees 123
Michigan Central Station, 2005 148
Chase scene over the railroad tracks in Detroit 9000 159
8 Wood Motel 188
Altered “Welcome to Detroit” sign 198
Rabbit making a decision in 8 Mile 203
Author at fifteen in a “satisficing” rock-and-roll moment 209