Gothic Appalachian Literature

Gothic Appalachian Literature examines the ways contemporary Appalachian authors utilize gothic tropes to explore the complex history and contemporary problems of the region, particularly in terms of their representation of economic, environmental, and political concerns. It argues that across Appalachian fiction, the plight of characters to save their homes, land and way of life from the destructive forces of extractive industries brings sharply to bare the histories of colonization and slavery that problematize questions of belonging, ownership and possession.
- Robertson extensively considers contemporary manifestations of the gothic in Appalachian literature, arguing that gothic tropes abound in fiction that focuses on the impacts of extractive industries and the climate crisis that connect this micro-region with other parts of the Global North and Global South where the devastating impacts of extractive industries are also experienced socially, economically and environmentally. Across contemporary Appalachian writing the everyday is haunted by the specter of climate change. As a result, while Appalachian fiction contains an array of horror-fueled texts rife with the regional stereotypes common in the popular imagination, the monstrous in contemporary Appalachian fiction is commonly found in overflowing slurry pits, the nightmarish sight of fracking towers, floods, droughts and forest fires. Gothic Appalachian Literature proposes that Appalachian texts that expose readers to the sites and processes of fossil fuel extraction, and their contribution to the climate crisis, are inherently gothic.
- As Robertson explores both historic and contemporary forms of the gothic she covers a diverse range of voices and perspectives that reflect a complex micro-region where individuals and communities are more richly complex than the reductive stereotypes of Appalachia ever allow. To that end, Robertson engages with contemporary debates about race and LGBTQ+ rights in what she terms a post-Trump moment in Appalachian literature.

Dr Sarah Robertson is a senior lecturer in American Literature at UWE Bristol.