Participation Type
Paper
Session Title
Session 1.09 Environment, Health and Developmemt
Presentation #1 Title
Environment, Media, Agency: Encouraging Dialogue Across Cultural and National Divides
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
In Undomesticated Ground: Recasting Nature as Feminist Space, Stacy Alaimo asserts, “the very constitution of nature as outside of culture, as a field free from social struggle, serves to mask the class-marked terrain of nature and ward off questions of who has access to nature as resources, a healthy environment, an aesthetic or muscle-flexing playground” (105). Since Appalachian history is rife with struggle for both environmental and social justice, Alaimo’s argument provides a unique opportunity to theorize rhetorical connections between ecocriticism, social justice, and questions of agency. This panel investigates the social, cultural, and political terrains that influence discourse concerning environmental justice. By engaging with a diverse set of texts ranging from Appalachian novels to environmental documentaries, we argue that there is an existing tension between the risk of further undermining already disempowered subjects’ sense of agency/importance and the potential of developing cross-cultural and transnational connections between diverse groups committed to pursuing environmental justice. As subjects’ attempts to translate their experiences and assert their agency to audiences both within and outside of Appalachia, they create texts which highlight the potential of building coalitions between disempowered communities and more powerful groups of environmental activists. At the same time, such texts often reveal a disturbing public disregard of the suffering that occurs as the result of environmental devastation in lower class, rural locations.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Originally from Sistersville, WV, Heather McIntyre is currently pursuing a PhD in English at the University of Kentucky. Her research interests include ecocriticism, queer theory, religious discourse, and agency in Appalachian literature.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #2
Richard Parmer is a PhD student in the English Department at the University of Kentucky. His research examines connections between articulations of nature and disenfranchised peoples in early American, as well as Appalachian, writing.
Environment, Media, Agency: Encouraging Dialogue Across Cultural and National Divides
Harris Hall 139
In Undomesticated Ground: Recasting Nature as Feminist Space, Stacy Alaimo asserts, “the very constitution of nature as outside of culture, as a field free from social struggle, serves to mask the class-marked terrain of nature and ward off questions of who has access to nature as resources, a healthy environment, an aesthetic or muscle-flexing playground” (105). Since Appalachian history is rife with struggle for both environmental and social justice, Alaimo’s argument provides a unique opportunity to theorize rhetorical connections between ecocriticism, social justice, and questions of agency. This panel investigates the social, cultural, and political terrains that influence discourse concerning environmental justice. By engaging with a diverse set of texts ranging from Appalachian novels to environmental documentaries, we argue that there is an existing tension between the risk of further undermining already disempowered subjects’ sense of agency/importance and the potential of developing cross-cultural and transnational connections between diverse groups committed to pursuing environmental justice. As subjects’ attempts to translate their experiences and assert their agency to audiences both within and outside of Appalachia, they create texts which highlight the potential of building coalitions between disempowered communities and more powerful groups of environmental activists. At the same time, such texts often reveal a disturbing public disregard of the suffering that occurs as the result of environmental devastation in lower class, rural locations.
