Participation Type
Paper
Session Title
Session 6.03 Religion
Presentation #1 Title
Of Mountain Flesh: Towards a Theology of Appalachian Creatures
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
In Apples on the Flood, Rodger Cunningham addresses the concept of ‘nature’ and its role in the marginalization of mountain communities. Noting that the word is frequently used as an identity marker in logics and practices of domination and exploitation, Cunningham argues that “what ‘mainstream’ Americans call ‘nature’ is, to mountaineers, ‘the Creation’.” While this statement reflects a sociological and historical experience – in numerous ways pre-industrial Appalachia embodied a uniquely, if imperfect, ecological way of life – it also gestures to a different picture of human ontology, such that the being or personhood of the mountaineer is distinct to the extent that her “identity is located in the world with which [she] shares [her] being.” Taking Cunningham’s insight regarding the reciprocal existence of the human and more-than-human as a catalyst for constructing an explicitly Appalachian theology and drawing on the work of Maurice Merleau-Ponty, specifically his phenomenological account of the ‘flesh,’ I argue that a key tool for challenging the pervasive ecological and cultural destruction of the mountains is a reconsideration of how Appalachians speak theologically about divine activity and presence. Here, Merleau-Ponty’s idea of the ‘flesh’ – that elemental corporeality shared between ourselves and the earth – offers a vision that challenges the destructive anthropocentric tendencies of modern religion and cultivates a retrieval and renewal of Appalachia’s wild and sensual theological imagination. Embracing this vision, Appalachians might recognize their shared ‘creatureliness’ with the earth and remember once more that the flesh of the mountain is the flesh of the self.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Scott McDaniel is a PhD candidate in Theology at the University of Dayton. His research focuses on the relationship between ecology, religion, and social space, particularly at it relates to Appalachian culture and topography.
Of Mountain Flesh: Towards a Theology of Appalachian Creatures
In Apples on the Flood, Rodger Cunningham addresses the concept of ‘nature’ and its role in the marginalization of mountain communities. Noting that the word is frequently used as an identity marker in logics and practices of domination and exploitation, Cunningham argues that “what ‘mainstream’ Americans call ‘nature’ is, to mountaineers, ‘the Creation’.” While this statement reflects a sociological and historical experience – in numerous ways pre-industrial Appalachia embodied a uniquely, if imperfect, ecological way of life – it also gestures to a different picture of human ontology, such that the being or personhood of the mountaineer is distinct to the extent that her “identity is located in the world with which [she] shares [her] being.” Taking Cunningham’s insight regarding the reciprocal existence of the human and more-than-human as a catalyst for constructing an explicitly Appalachian theology and drawing on the work of Maurice Merleau-Ponty, specifically his phenomenological account of the ‘flesh,’ I argue that a key tool for challenging the pervasive ecological and cultural destruction of the mountains is a reconsideration of how Appalachians speak theologically about divine activity and presence. Here, Merleau-Ponty’s idea of the ‘flesh’ – that elemental corporeality shared between ourselves and the earth – offers a vision that challenges the destructive anthropocentric tendencies of modern religion and cultivates a retrieval and renewal of Appalachia’s wild and sensual theological imagination. Embracing this vision, Appalachians might recognize their shared ‘creatureliness’ with the earth and remember once more that the flesh of the mountain is the flesh of the self.
