Patriarchal Trauma in Appalachian Literature
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University of Kentucky UKnowledge Theses and Dissertations--English English 2016 Patriarchal Trauma in Appalachian Literature Michelle Justus University of Kentucky, [email protected] Digital Object Identifier: http://dx.doi.org/10.13023/ETD.2016.203 Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Justus, Michelle, "Patriarchal Trauma in Appalachian Literature" (2016). Theses and Dissertations-- English. 40. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/english_etds/40 This Doctoral Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the English at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations--English by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STUDENT AGREEMENT: I represent that my thesis or dissertation and abstract are my original work. Proper attribution has been given to all outside sources. 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Michelle Justus, Student Dr. Pearl James, Major Professor Dr. Andy Doolen, Director of Graduate Studies PATRIARCHAL TRAUMA IN APPALACHIAN LITERATURE ______________________________ DISSERTATION ______________________________ A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky By Michelle Justus Lexington, Kentucky Director: Dr. Pearl James, Professor of English Lexington, Kentucky 2016 Copyright © Michelle Justus 2016 ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION PATRIARCHAL TRAUMA IN APPALACHIAN LITERATURE Patriarchal Trauma in Appalachian Literature examines the effects of subjugation on women as it is represented in three novels set in Appalachia. I define patriarchal trauma as an act causing mental anguish to a woman and perpetrated against her because she is a woman. I use the term to encompass violent, catastrophic harms but more particularly to pinpoint the traumatic effects of the quotidian, systemic deprivation of women’s autonomy. Reconsidering classic texts such as James Still’s River of Earth and Robert Morgan’s Gap Creek: The Story of a Marriage as narratives of women’s trauma establishes a lineage on the subject, which culminates in Lee Smith’s more recent Guests on Earth. This project eschews authenticity as an analytical tool, turning instead to modes of argument in feminism’s toolkit to delineate the potentially grim outcomes for women whose agency is constricted or usurped. While patriarchal control mechanisms such as domestic violence and sexual abuse inflict readily observable injuries on women, I argue that common, everyday subordination to men can exact a similar emotional toll, especially on women who strenuously defy male dominance. These traumatic states, I further contend, have previously been read as inevitable acquiescence or a genuine desire for subjugation in River and Gap Creek, respectively, while experiences of trauma in Guests are directly portrayed as mistaken interpretations of madness. Reassessing women characters’ numb, compliant, depressed, or enraged emotions as responses to patriarchal trauma challenges the practice of pathologizing women’s rebellion. KEYWORDS: patriarchal trauma, Appalachian literature, trauma theory, subjugation, gender, women Michelle Justus May 4, 2016 Date PATRIARCHAL TRAUMA IN APPALACHIAN LITERATURE By Michelle Justus Dr. Pearl James Director of Dissertation Dr. Andy Doolen Director of Graduate Studies May 4, 2016 To Ed ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am profoundly grateful to the many people who supported me as I wrote this dissertation. Pearl James, my advisor, engaged intellectually with this project from its inception to its finished form, and her insightful direction was crucial to its completion. I am forever beholden to her, not only for her guidance but also for her Zen-like disposition throughout the sometimes turbulent process of dissertating. I am also indebted to Gurney Norman, whose generosity of spirit has awed me since the moment we got acquainted. Countless conversations with him about Appalachia informed my initial thinking about the region’s literature, and his friendship was at least as important as his mentorship throughout every stage of this project. My other committee members, Rynetta Davis and Karen Tice, also gave me invaluable advice and encouragement that bolstered my resolve at key moments throughout this enterprise. My gratitude for all my husband has given me is ineffable, but his gifts to me are readily expressed: love, trust, confidence, stability. My thanks to Chazzy, also, for her devotion and for reminding me there is always a mountain, somewhere, waiting to be hiked. Finally, this project would not exist without the faith of the Appalachian women who told me, practically from my birth, that I had no limitations: Gladys, Katherine, Sissy, Bonnie, and most of all, my mother, Shirley Ann Rasnake Justus, whose voice rings from the pages herein. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements.…………………………………………………………..………… iii Chapter One: Introduction Authenticity………………………………………………………………………. 1 Insider/Outsider…………………………………………..………………………. 4 Critical Framework…………………………………………….………………… 7 Patriarchal Trauma……………………………………………………………….. 8 Trauma Theory…………………………………………………………………… 9 Outline………………………………………………………………………....... 16 Chapter Two: Farming for Autonomy in River of Earth Introduction……………………………………………………………………... 19 Women and Nature…………………………………………………………....... 19 Work……………………………………………………………………………. 30 Language and Shame……………………………………………………….…... 34 Exploitation……………………………………………………………………... 37 Masculinity………………………………………………….………………….. 40 Alpha’s Decline……………………………………………………………….... 48 Chapter Three: The Literary Assault of Gap Creek Introduction……………………………………………………………………... 54 Working Like a Man……………………………………………………………. 56 Erotic Violence…………………………………………………………………. 69 Little Sister……………………………………………………………………… 76 Male Authors…………………………………………………………………… 79 Mother Blame………………………………………………….……………….. 83 Point of View…………………………………………………………………… 87 Hardworking Mountain Woman Trope………………………………………… 90 Morgan’s Insider Status………………………………………………………… 92 Chapter Four: The Madness of Patriarchy in Guests on Earth Introduction……………………………………………………………………... 99 Gendered Madness…………………………………………………………...... 100 Trope of the Madwoman……………………………………………….……… 105 Patriarchal Trauma…………………………………………………………….. 106 Trauma Narrative…………………………………………………………..….. 108 Anorexia…………………………………………………………………….…. 120 Artistic Oppression……………………………………………………............. 122 Class…………………………………………………………………………… 126 Idealized Subordination……………………………………………………….. 129 Sexual Violence…………………………………………………………….…. 133 Chapter Five: Conclusion…………………………………………………………...… 144 iv Endnotes……………………………………………………………………………….. 148 References……………………………………………………………………………... 151 Vita…………………………………………………………………………………….. 155 v Chapter One: Introduction As I try to write women into Appalachian history, insert them into the populist narrative of settling the frontier, fighting the coal operators and stopping the polluters, the stories of my female ancestors contradict me. Nothing I set down on paper seems authentic; nothing captures their experiences, although they are certainly Appalachian women. —Barbara Ellen Smith Trying to uncover real women’s role in history is difficult for a number of reasons, according to Barbara Ellen Smith in “‘Beyond the Mountains’”: The Paradox of Women’s Place in Appalachian History.” One hindrance is that historical narratives often veil the actions of women, privileging instead stories of conquest that foreground men’s actions, what Smith calls the “mesmerizing logic of patriarchy as historical truth” (2, 4). This might be because official records of events have long been under the purview, primarily, of men. The problem is especially acute for Smith as she attempts to elucidate the part that Appalachian women, in particular, have played in history, since Appalachia is surrounded by preconceived notions that constitute a nearly impermeable wall. These “monolithic constructs of Appalachia,” according to Smith, “have long inhibited vigorous investigation of women’s experiences” in Appalachian history (2). So much so, in