Angel on the Mountain: Homestead Heroism in Appalachian Fiction

The purpose of this study is to offer homestead heroism as a model for analysis in Appalachian fiction. Homestead heroism provides specific criteria for evaluating images of women in Appalachian fiction. In contrast to long-standing stereotypes of mountain women, homestead heroes achieve economic equality, and thereby autonomy, through labor production. In order to offer homestead heroism as a viable means of critical study, I have traced its presence in Appalachian fiction from the late nineteenth century to the late twentieth century.