This Side of the Mountain

This Side of the Mountain George Brosi Back in July, I gave a plenary address to the Appalachian Writers' Association meeting at King College in Bristol, Tennessee. My topic was "Appalachian Literature as a Specialty: Its Past Traditions and Present Challenges." I'd like to share a few of the points that I made in that presentation. Appalachian Literature as a distinct field of study was clearly an inevitable development. However, I believe that we were blessed with a wonderful group of pioneers who first attracted attention to our regional literature. One reason that this specialty has become important to so many is that this group of "founders" shared such compelling beliefs. I believe that five central values characterized our field as it developed: intellectual rigor, social conscience, international perspective, inclusion and egalitarianism. These values are being kept alive today by many dedicated enthusiasts. From the beginning, our field of study has been intellectually rigorous. Cratis Williams (1911-1985), a native of Lawrence County, Kentucky, who became a top administrator at Appalachian State, got everything off to a bracing start with his 1,669-page doctoral dissertation, "The Southern Mountaineer in Fact and Fiction" (1961). In 1975, the first anthology of regional literature, Voices from the Hills, edited by Jack Higgs and Ambrose Manning, reinforced this pattern of intellectual rigor. Listen Here: Women Writing in Appalachia (2003) by Sandra L. Ballard and Patricia L. Hudson is a 673-page tour-de-force which continues this tradition. Admittedly, our region as a whole has not always held up the highest educational standards, but this has not prevented our field of study from reveling in distinguished intellectual dialogue. Wilma Dykeman—a native of Asheville who lived most of her life in Newport, Tennessee—promoted regional literature tirelessly and, as early as the 1950s, set a high standard for the strong social conscience that permeates our field. I heard her speak countless times, and she always touched upon gender, class and race issues in a way that encouraged deep thought and committed action. The book, Neither Black Nor White (1957) which she co-authored with her husband, Jim Stokely, was instrumental in East Tennessee's acceptance (with only minor exceptions) of integrated schools. The social conscience of regional writers and critics is evident today in the book Missing Mountains (2005), a collection of writing by Kentucky authors opposed to mountaintop removal mining. Of course, not all political traditions in our area are progressive, but we have been blessed with folks within our field of study who care deeply about our land and people. An international perspective has characterized our field from the beginning, despite the dangers that are inherent in regionalism: provincialism oreven regional chauvinism. Jim Wayne Miller—a native of Buncombe County, North Carolina, and a Berea College grad— worked professionally as a German Professor at Western Kentucky University. His poetic persona, the "Brier," urged his readers not to think "ridge to ridge" but "ocean to ocean," and the many workshops he led throughout the region always expanded the consciousness of participants. RodgerCunningham, whogrew up inWayneCounty, West Virginia, and currently teaches at Alice Lloyd College in Knott County, Kentucky, exemplifies our internationalism, especially in his essay in An American Vein: Critical Readings in Appalachian Literature (2005) edited by Danny L. Miller, Sharon Hatfield and Gurney Norman. Anothertime-honoredvalueamongpeopleinvolved inAppalachian literature is inclusion. While Wilma Dykeman was giving speeches and Jim WayneMillerwas presentingworkshops onAppalachian Literature, Gurney Norman was traveling around the region, personally inspiring and encouraging area writers. A native of Grundy, Virginia, who was raised in Perry County, Kentucky, Gurney Norman has taught at the University of Kentucky most of his career. One of many examples of his work is the poetry anthology, Old Wounds, Neiv Words (1994) which was co-edited by George Ella Lyon and Bob Henry Baber. The importance of inclusion has been emphasized recently by the work of not only the "old minorities," the Cherokee and African-Americans, but also by "new minorities," especially the Latinos and Asians. Writers like doris davenport of Asheville and Crystal Wilkinson of Casey County, Kentucky, have kept this spirit alive and well. John Lang, who has written a book of literary criticism...