“There is No Such Thing” Place (Un)making in Appalachian Fiction in the Fossil Fuel Era

First name: 
Nora
Last name: 
Massie
Class Year: 
2022
Advisor: 
Michael Fotos
Essay Abstract: 
This essay seeks to answer the following questions: what is the “context” of Appalachia as people from the region, specifically the coalfield part of the region, see it? How do the fiction writers from the region conceptualize their relationship to the environment and the non-human in general? And, what is the relationship of their sense of place to the construction of that sense of place by outsiders? This essay is about finding patterns of shared experiences and understandings in fiction by Appalachian authors who write about Appalachia as an imagined place constructed through attachments, connections, and discontinuities between people, the environment, power, and money.