Participation Type
Paper
Session Title
Session 6.09 Literature and Poetry
Presentation #1 Title
“This Wealth of Wisdom Perished”: Reading a New Appalachia in the Literature of Labor Disaster
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
It may seem cynical to speak of labor tragedies at a conference centered around the idea of “New Appalachia.” The subject of these tragedies, while certainly a “known reality,” has nevertheless led to Appalachian identity as partially becoming, in the words of Stephen Crane, “symbols of a grim, strange war.” Yet the literature of these labor tragedies is more than a historical document of sorrow and injustice, or proletarian politics; analysis of these creative works suggest a much more nuanced vision of what new Appalachian identities might actually mean. This presentation will focus on the new Appalachia that poets and novelists have suggested through creative documentation of labor tragedies. Works such as Muriel Rukeyeser’s,“Book of the Dead,” Hubert Skidmore’s Hawk's Nest, as well as lesser known poets from Chris Green’s Coal: A Poetry Anthology, suggest a vision of Appalachia beyond simply fixing poor working conditions and low wages (in the words of Rukeyeser, “you men of fact, measure our times again.”). In order to highlight the vision that labor tragedy literature brings for a new Appalachia, I will begin with the vision of Appalachia cast by contemporary reporting of mine disasters such as Buffalo Creek, Farmington, and Sago, which rely on sentimental versions of community and ambition.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Brent Walter Cline is an Associate Professor of English at Spring Arbor University.
“This Wealth of Wisdom Perished”: Reading a New Appalachia in the Literature of Labor Disaster
Harris Hall 402
It may seem cynical to speak of labor tragedies at a conference centered around the idea of “New Appalachia.” The subject of these tragedies, while certainly a “known reality,” has nevertheless led to Appalachian identity as partially becoming, in the words of Stephen Crane, “symbols of a grim, strange war.” Yet the literature of these labor tragedies is more than a historical document of sorrow and injustice, or proletarian politics; analysis of these creative works suggest a much more nuanced vision of what new Appalachian identities might actually mean. This presentation will focus on the new Appalachia that poets and novelists have suggested through creative documentation of labor tragedies. Works such as Muriel Rukeyeser’s,“Book of the Dead,” Hubert Skidmore’s Hawk's Nest, as well as lesser known poets from Chris Green’s Coal: A Poetry Anthology, suggest a vision of Appalachia beyond simply fixing poor working conditions and low wages (in the words of Rukeyeser, “you men of fact, measure our times again.”). In order to highlight the vision that labor tragedy literature brings for a new Appalachia, I will begin with the vision of Appalachia cast by contemporary reporting of mine disasters such as Buffalo Creek, Farmington, and Sago, which rely on sentimental versions of community and ambition.
