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Colonialism and Globalism in Two Contemporary Southern Appalachian Novels - Serena (2008) by Ron Rash, and Flight Behavior (2012) by Barbara Kingsolver

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Colonialism and Globalism in Two Contemporary Southern Appalachian Novels - Serena (2008) by Ron Rash, and Flight Behavior (2012) by Barbara Kingsolver East Tennessee State University Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University Undergraduate Honors Theses Student Works 5-2020 Colonialism and Globalism in Two Contemporary Southern Appalachian Novels - Serena (2008) by Ron Rash, and Flight Behavior (2012) by Barbara Kingsolver Jasmyn Herrell Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.etsu.edu/honors Part of the American Literature Commons, Appalachian Studies Commons, Literature in English, North America Commons, and the Race, Ethnicity and Post-Colonial Studies Commons Recommended Citation Herrell, Jasmyn, "Colonialism and Globalism in Two Contemporary Southern Appalachian Novels - Serena (2008) by Ron Rash, and Flight Behavior (2012) by Barbara Kingsolver" (2020). Undergraduate Honors Theses. Paper 573. https://dc.etsu.edu/honors/573 This Honors Thesis - Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Works at Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Undergraduate Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Colonialism and Globalism in Two Contemporary Southern Appalachian Novels – Serena (2008) by Ron Rash, and Flight Behavior (2012) by Barbara Kingsolver By Jasmyn Herrell Spring 2020 Mentor: Dr. Kevin O’Donnell Second Reader: Dr. Rebecca Adkins Fletcher Abstract: In this essay, I investigate how the historic and current economic structures operating in Appalachia from the 1920s to the 2010s are represented in two contemporary Southern Appalachian novels – Serena (2008) by Ron Rash and Flight Behavior (2012) by Barbara Kingsolver. Through the lens of postcolonial theory, I show how Serena represents Appalachia as functioning under the colonial model outlined by Robert Blauner and Helen Mathews Lewis in 1978. Then, still under the theory of postcolonialism, I explore how Kingsolver’s work depicts regional identity in response to a post-colonial environment and the ever-expanding global economy. Acknowledgements Dr. Kevin O’Donnell Thank you for introducing me to a world of literature that I may have never come across if it were not for you. I have the utmost appreciation for you and the support you have given me throughout this journey. Dr. Rebecca Adkins Fletcher Thank you for providing me with the tools I would need in order to study the complexities of Appalachian literature. Because of you I feel more confident in my role as a Southern Appalachian. Contents I. Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 1 II. A Colonial Appalachia ......................................................................................................... 1 III. Colonialism in Serena .......................................................................................................... 5 IV. Transforming Regional Identity in Serena .......................................................................... 9 V. Then and Now .................................................................................................................... 12 VI. A Post-Colonial Appalachia in Flight Behavior ................................................................ 14 VII. Globalism in Flight Behavior ............................................................................................ 15 VIII. Regional Identity in a 21st Century Flight Behavior .......................................................... 16 IX. Making a Place, Making a Regional Identity..................................................................... 18 X. Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 19 Herrell 1 I. Introduction In this essay, I explore two contemporary Southern Appalachian novels through the lens of postcolonialism, a branch of criticism concerned with literature written by colonial powers or groups of individuals who have been or are currently colonized. Half of my analysis examines Ron Rash’s Serena in the historical context of a colonial society based on natural-resource extraction, while the second portion of this essay analyzes Barbara Kingsolver’s Flight Behavior, and its portrayal of a modern Appalachia riddled with the same issues found in traditional postcolonial nations – only now the culprit is globalism. When read side-by-side, these two works narrate the transformation of the region’s identity over the course of a century, beginning with the locals of Waynesville, NC in 1929 and ending with the residents of fictional Feathertown, upper East Tennessee, in the early 2010’s. Overall, I argue that Serena and Flight Behavior feature characters and settings riddled with post-colonial themes despite the differences in the local and global economies. The two literary works together thus represent the complex relationship between colonialism and regional identity, similar to what we might see in African or Caribbean Literature. II. A Colonial Appalachia Definitions explaining the borders of the Appalachian region vary. The region I focus on here in my analysis is identified as the Southern Appalachian Mountains. This region includes east Tennessee, southern West Virginia, Southwestern Virginia, western North Carolina, and portions of north Alabama, north Georgia, and northern South Carolina. Moreover, Serena and Flight Behavior are both set in what is known as the Blue Ridge province (Morrone 54). Herrell 2 To explore the social and economic structure of Appalachia in Serena, I relied on the explanation of colonialism found in a collection of essays edited by a founding leader in Appalachian Studies, Helen Matthews Lewis. In Colonialism in Modern America: The Appalachian Case (1978), Lewis explains how Appalachia in the 1970s could be considered a colony because it met the four criteria originally outlined by Robert Blauner, the developer of the Internal Colonialism Model. Before those four components can be analyzed, the following relationship must be established: Those in power (the colonizers) have a technological advantage over the subordinate group (colonized). The colonized group is only taken advantage of because it has either human or natural resources. The cause and effect relationship here is clear; those with the technology and money can easily gain the control of those who have the materials that bring them their profit. According to Blauner and Lewis, “the resources of the colonized perpetuate the process of colonization (Lewis 17).” Here are the four necessary criteria to consider when identifying examples of a colonial system. 1. The colonizers are uninvited into the region. 2. The impact on the culture and social organization of the colonized people is more significant than the impact one would expect from other forms of cultural contact or acculturation, such as the case with migration. 3. Colonization involves a relationship by which members of the colonized group tend to be administered by representatives of the dominant power. (Blauner 5) 4. The colonizers view the colonized as inferior in terms of alleged biological, geographical, or cultural differences. (Typically such views are based on perceived biological differences and therefore a product of racism.) Herrell 3 1) To begin with the first component, those in the dominant position are not invited into the region before their arrival. Typically, those in power have no connection to the region other than financial investments. 2) The second component of colonialism dictates that the impact on culture and social organization is greater than we would expect through cultural contact and acculturation. The uninvited people in power are capable of completely altering a region's personal, cultural, and economical ways of life. This can cause agricultural societies to lose the ability to sustain themselves while creating a disconnect with the land. 3) Thirdly, the colonialism model involves a relationship by which members of the colonized group tend to be administered by representatives of the dominant group. Political and governmental decisions represent the needs of the colonizers (the minority) instead of the colonized (the majority). 4) There exists a principle of social domination by which a group seen as inferior or different in terms of biological, geographical, or cultural characteristics. The group deemed inferior is exploited, controlled, and oppressed socially and physically by the superordinate group. It is easier to understand how these conditions were true in Appalachia by briefly considering its history of extensive environmental resource extraction in the region. Not long after initial European contact, prospectors from all over began to take notice of the profitable plant and animal resources scattered throughout the diverse mountain range. Drew Swanson identifies what he calls a “repeated phenomenon” in Appalachian history in his recent work Beyond the Mountains: Commodifying Appalachian Environments. In the late 1600’s, the Appalachian region officially attached itself to the global economy beginning with the White- Tailed Deerskin trade. Leather became a prized commodity in both Europe and English colonies. More significantly, the trade permanently connected the Native American populations to Europe, as they soon became dependent on European goods. Herrell 4 Following the rise and fall of the deerskin population, botanical collectors across the
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