#6 Appalachian Discourse

I'd already had vague notions of this- after all, it's hard to avoid- but coal seems to be a pretty big topic of discourse and rhetoric in Appalachia. Whether it's the issue of coal itself as an energy source, the controversy of establishing mines and the detrimental effect it has on the environment and community surrounding it, the family dynamic of the man of the family going off to work in the mines, and so on- it's definitely something talked about, written about, and that people feel strongly about. Sohn's book contains some discussion of how men work either in the mines or in related jobs and the significance of coal to Appalachian life. The Hunger Games takes place in an Appalachian coal mining town in the future, where coal still heavily affects much of the way of life for the people living there. The guest speakers spoke very strongly about coal and the detrimental effects of the power plants built too close to communities that result in high rates of cancer and black lung without even going near a coal mine, and the people living so removed from that kind of life that they hardly even acknowledge it's a real problem.

On the flipside, or maybe just a less loudly discussed aspect of Appalachian rhetoric, is the struggle to define what Appalachia is in order to break out of negative stereotypes and use this Appalachian identity as a force for good for Appalachia as a whole. The articles I found when researching for my exploratory essay were mainly written by scholars who either specifically studied or taught Appalachian studies, or were simply Appalachian themselves and studying issues related to the area or identity. There is an attempt being made to educate and encourage discourse among students, both non-Appalachian and Appalachian alike, on what Appalachia is beyond just the surface rhetoric of coal and the mountains and the hillbilly stereotypes.