Participation Type
Paper
Session Title
Session 6.02 Literature
Presentation #1 Title
Appalachia: Raw and Dynamic in Elmore Leonard’s Justified
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
Fox Network initially sought viewers for its new series Justified, which premiered in 2010, with advertisements that compared Appalachian’s Harlan County, Kentucky, to a twenty-first century Wild West. Rough-around-the-edges Raylan Givens, a former Marine, returns to his home county as a United States Marshall when his brand of justice is not well received in Miami. Though the series certainly bears a likeness to the old Westerns, its marginal raw beauty emerges solely because of its differences from traditional Westerns. The “many musics” of Appalachian life emerge gradually as the series progresses. The characters—though odd and sometimes eccentric—mirror the variety of the Appalachian topography with its mountains and valleys, winding creeks and hidden trails. By closely following Elmore Leonard’s strong dialogue and stripped-down prose in Pronto, “Fire in the Hole,” and Riding the Rap, the creators effectively portray the true simplicity and freshness of Appalachian life. The Appalachian diversity materializes within the familial interconnections of Givens and his father, Mags Bennett and her sons, Dickie, Doyle, and Coover, and the Crowder clan. Within each family, members manage a tenuous balance between love and hate, faith and disbelief, law and corruption. Appalachia—not a Western facsimile—emerges from both the screen and the pages of Leonard’s manuscripts as a force worth reckoning, a creative, dynamic force.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Scholarly Biography: Virginia Payne Dow is currently a Ph.D. student at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. She finished her doctoral course work in Literature and Criticism and is currently working on her dissertation. Dow teaches full-time as Assistant Professor at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia
Appalachia: Raw and Dynamic in Elmore Leonard’s Justified
Fox Network initially sought viewers for its new series Justified, which premiered in 2010, with advertisements that compared Appalachian’s Harlan County, Kentucky, to a twenty-first century Wild West. Rough-around-the-edges Raylan Givens, a former Marine, returns to his home county as a United States Marshall when his brand of justice is not well received in Miami. Though the series certainly bears a likeness to the old Westerns, its marginal raw beauty emerges solely because of its differences from traditional Westerns. The “many musics” of Appalachian life emerge gradually as the series progresses. The characters—though odd and sometimes eccentric—mirror the variety of the Appalachian topography with its mountains and valleys, winding creeks and hidden trails. By closely following Elmore Leonard’s strong dialogue and stripped-down prose in Pronto, “Fire in the Hole,” and Riding the Rap, the creators effectively portray the true simplicity and freshness of Appalachian life. The Appalachian diversity materializes within the familial interconnections of Givens and his father, Mags Bennett and her sons, Dickie, Doyle, and Coover, and the Crowder clan. Within each family, members manage a tenuous balance between love and hate, faith and disbelief, law and corruption. Appalachia—not a Western facsimile—emerges from both the screen and the pages of Leonard’s manuscripts as a force worth reckoning, a creative, dynamic force.
