Mode of Program Participation
Academic Scholarship
Participation Type
Paper
Presentation #1 Title
The speaking subject and the revolution in Appalachian literature of resistance
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
With this paper I apply French feminist psychoanalytic and linguistic theory to Appalachian literature in order to reveal the revolutionary power of its narratives. My paper analyzes three modern novels written by Appalachian authors: Unquiet Earth by Denise Giardina; Strange As This Weather Has Been by Ann Pancake; and Trampoline by Robert Gipe in order to determine whether heterogeneous first person narrators in Appalachian literature are accomplishing what Kristeva considered a function of literary creation: embracing the semiotic maternal voice to subvert the paternal or dominant language linked to oppressive power structures. The language of literature, according to Kristeva, has inherent potential to change social relations through a liberation both political and linguistic. Art that draws forth the semiotic throws off oppressive patriarchal societal structures through celebrating the divided self, thus undermining western traditions as well as capitalist structures that depend for their perpetuation upon the interpellation of a unified subject. By returning such exiled discourse to the people, literature has the potential to reveal the repressive practices of the ruling class, deconstruct social contracts built on the discourse of the paternal, and emancipate marginalized classes repressed by patriarchal and capitalist structures. My research centers on Kristeva’s theory of art, the semiotic and symbolic, and the subject in process as well as her primary influences: Bakhtin, Lacan, and Freud. I also examine historical and critical approaches to narrative and the novel in particular and the role of this genre in examining identity politics and its intersection with society’s socio-political dynamics.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Born and raised in Charleston, WV, I have called the New River Valley home for the last 18 years. I received my undergraduate English Education degree from Marshall University in Huntington, WV. At this time I am pursuing a M.A. in English with a concentration in Appalachian Studies at Radford University in Radford, VA.
The speaking subject and the revolution in Appalachian literature of resistance
With this paper I apply French feminist psychoanalytic and linguistic theory to Appalachian literature in order to reveal the revolutionary power of its narratives. My paper analyzes three modern novels written by Appalachian authors: Unquiet Earth by Denise Giardina; Strange As This Weather Has Been by Ann Pancake; and Trampoline by Robert Gipe in order to determine whether heterogeneous first person narrators in Appalachian literature are accomplishing what Kristeva considered a function of literary creation: embracing the semiotic maternal voice to subvert the paternal or dominant language linked to oppressive power structures. The language of literature, according to Kristeva, has inherent potential to change social relations through a liberation both political and linguistic. Art that draws forth the semiotic throws off oppressive patriarchal societal structures through celebrating the divided self, thus undermining western traditions as well as capitalist structures that depend for their perpetuation upon the interpellation of a unified subject. By returning such exiled discourse to the people, literature has the potential to reveal the repressive practices of the ruling class, deconstruct social contracts built on the discourse of the paternal, and emancipate marginalized classes repressed by patriarchal and capitalist structures. My research centers on Kristeva’s theory of art, the semiotic and symbolic, and the subject in process as well as her primary influences: Bakhtin, Lacan, and Freud. I also examine historical and critical approaches to narrative and the novel in particular and the role of this genre in examining identity politics and its intersection with society’s socio-political dynamics.
