I grew up on that farm, too, but only on weekends and holidays. I fish in the pond and hunt deer in the hollow (not the holler, like it is down south), but I wasn't raised there. Like Sohn, I do not consider myself Appalachian. Geographically, we're both on the edge; fifty miles one way or the other and there might be a bit more twang to my voice, but there isn't. I consider myself "mid-western" or "great lakes," she might say "southern" or "dixie." At any rate, we're border-liners, neither of the hills nor foreign to them.
I suppose if academia has to write about Appalachia, and how hard it is to be working class, white, christian Americans, I'm glad it's someone from the border doing it. Folks from the coasts, New York, D.C. and California - it doesn't seem possible they'd be able to escape the carpetbagger/missionary label in the minds of true locals. Then again, how's an Appalachian supposed to remain unbiased when talking about their home?
Sohn and I may not be the best of buds, and I certainly don't believe that she's a neutral party, but I appreciate the effort.
I like that you have a perspective that sort of fits with the Appalachian culture, although you don't personally consider yourself Appalachian. When you really lay out what Sohn was writing about, (working class, white, christian Americans) it makes you think about why these people are looked down upon. Isn't that description just any old citizen of the US?
ReplyDelete"I suppose if academia has to write about Appalachia, and how hard it is to be working class, white, christian Americans, I'm glad it's someone from the border doing it."
ReplyDeleteI'm sensing a sarcasm here that I'd like to see explored further! It does hit on one of my concerns about the way academia rhetorically approaches Appalachia--the focus is largely on Appalachia as "lacking"; in other words, how "hard" it must be to live in Appalachia. I want to see approaches that look for what it offers, not what it lacks. Where are the stories of Appalachian children growing up surrounded by loving families, stories, music, and some of the most beautiful land in the world? Mostly, America doesn't get to hear this perspective. I'm intrigued as to why.