Participation Type
Paper
Session Title
Session 3.13 Literature and Poetry
Presentation #1 Title
“I Had To Take Pen in Hand”: Two Versions of Silas House's "Unsent Letter" and the Problem of Appalachian Minstrelsy
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
“I Had To Take Pen in Hand”: Two Versions of Silas House’s “Unsent Letter” and the Problem of Appalachian Minstrelsy In The Hurting Part: Evolution of an American Play (henceforth Evolution), Silas House traces the development of “An Unsent Letter” into a three-act play. The casebook, however, omits the original version of the short story. Published in Appalachian Heritage, “An Unsent Letter” (1998) differs significantly from the later version, collected in Evolution, also titled “An Unsent Letter” (2004), omitting entire passages from the earlier version. More significant philologically, the later version tidies the grammar and spelling of its predecessor. This presentation, which incorporates primary materials, as well as more recent examinations of Appalachian dialect in literature by Michael Ellis and Kate Sexton McKnight, examines the systematic way House confronts his own past, eliminating a potentially embarrassing artifact from his official oeuvre. House himself has addressed the issues of dialect writing and often refers to outsiders’ insulting reaction to heavily accented speech, including House’s own, when defining a persistent problem attending Appalachian identity. “An Unsent Letter” (1998) includes phonetic spellings—e.g., winder for window—and other markers of “mountain dialect” that link House’s early fiction with that of the Local Colorists and others exploiting the linguistic raw materials of Appalachian stereotype. While the later version incorporates some relatively benign dialect, such as non-standard verb forms, the most problematic language has virtually disappeared in House’s re-vision, an indication of greater sophistication but also of greater aesthetic timidity.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Jimmy Dean Smith chairs the Department of English at Union College in Barbourville, KY. He has previously presented at ASA on popular music and literature.
“I Had To Take Pen in Hand”: Two Versions of Silas House's "Unsent Letter" and the Problem of Appalachian Minstrelsy
Harris Hall 443
“I Had To Take Pen in Hand”: Two Versions of Silas House’s “Unsent Letter” and the Problem of Appalachian Minstrelsy In The Hurting Part: Evolution of an American Play (henceforth Evolution), Silas House traces the development of “An Unsent Letter” into a three-act play. The casebook, however, omits the original version of the short story. Published in Appalachian Heritage, “An Unsent Letter” (1998) differs significantly from the later version, collected in Evolution, also titled “An Unsent Letter” (2004), omitting entire passages from the earlier version. More significant philologically, the later version tidies the grammar and spelling of its predecessor. This presentation, which incorporates primary materials, as well as more recent examinations of Appalachian dialect in literature by Michael Ellis and Kate Sexton McKnight, examines the systematic way House confronts his own past, eliminating a potentially embarrassing artifact from his official oeuvre. House himself has addressed the issues of dialect writing and often refers to outsiders’ insulting reaction to heavily accented speech, including House’s own, when defining a persistent problem attending Appalachian identity. “An Unsent Letter” (1998) includes phonetic spellings—e.g., winder for window—and other markers of “mountain dialect” that link House’s early fiction with that of the Local Colorists and others exploiting the linguistic raw materials of Appalachian stereotype. While the later version incorporates some relatively benign dialect, such as non-standard verb forms, the most problematic language has virtually disappeared in House’s re-vision, an indication of greater sophistication but also of greater aesthetic timidity.
