A portrait of the woman as artist : woman's struggle for artistic expression in the fiction of six Appalachian women writers

Author

Donna Jan Summerlin

Date of Award

8-1995

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

English

Major Professor

Dorothy M. Scura

Committee Members

Allison Ensor, Jack Reese, James Cobb

Abstract

This dissertation provides an overview of the contributions women have made to the Appalachian literary canon, along with an examination of the major works of six of the region's most acclaimed women writers. The works of Elizabeth Madox Roberts, Olive Tilford Dargan, Harriette Arnow, Mary Lee Settle, Lee Saith, and Denise Giardina represent triumph of women artists not only because of the critical recognition these writers have received, but also because of the way their works have empowered the female artist figure.

The novels examined present a historical and geographical cross-section of Appalachia, demonstrating that women in all of these times and places were intelligent and creative beings of indomitable spirit. Although poverty, lack of education, domestic responsibility, and the expectations of society hindered many women from writing, women produced works of art within the domestic sphere through activities such as weaving and carving, as well as through the oral traditions of storytelling and music. The artistic vision of woman is reflected also in a keen sensitivity that was occasionally manifested through social activism. The novels of women writing about the region demonstrate that even though Appalachian women have struggled against a hostile environment, they have found ways to express the creative impulse.

Following an introduction which provides a rationale for the way Appalachia is defined and enumerates the notable accomplishments of these six writers, chapter one offers a survey of women who have contributed to the canon of Appalachian literature. The remaining chapters offer analysis of novels by Roberts, Smith, Settle, Dargan, Arnow, and Giardina. Chapter two explores conditions that have hindered Appalachian women from writing, especially before the twentieth century. Chapters three, four, and five offer an alternative model of the woman artist: women expressing the creative impulse through domestic art, music, and through social activism. The final chapter focuses on the artistic contributions of women who have written about the region, emphasizing the fictional models of Hannah McKarkle in Mary Lee Settle's The Killing Ground and Ivy Rowe in Lee Smith's Fair and Tender Ladies.

Recommended Citation

Summerlin, Donna Jan, "A portrait of the woman as artist : woman's struggle for artistic expression in the fiction of six Appalachian women writers. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 1995.
https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/10236