The Evolution of Feminine Loyalty Trends in Twentieth and Twenty-First Century Appalachian Literature.

<p>Loyalty to the self, family, and husband create interesting tensions for feminine characters in Appalachian literature. Traditional views of loyalty dictate that the Appalachian woman chooses to be loyal to her husband and family while abandoning her self loyalty. Appalachian women writers define the terms of loyalty and the conflicts these three levels create. Furthermore, studying a progression of novels from 1926 to the present shows that feminine loyalty trends have changed. This argument focuses on examining loyalty trends of feminine Appalachian characters, studying the contentions among those loyalties, specifically showing how loyalty patterns have changed in literature, and offering speculation on why these loyalty patterns have changed progressively in Appalachian literature. The study includes five Appalachian novels: <u>The Time of Man</u> by Elizabeth Madox Roberts, <u>The Dollmaker</u> by Harriette Arnow, <u>Storming Heaven</u> by Denise Giardina, <u>Prodigal Summer</u> by Barbara Kingsolver, and <u>The Midwife's Tale</u> by Gretchen Morgan Laskas.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

MA (Master of Arts)

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis - unrestricted

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

English

Year dc:date.issued

2008

Author dc:creator

• Daniel, Candace Jean

• loyalty
• identity
• Appalachian literature
• Appalachia
• family
• Arts and Humanities
• English Language and Literature
• Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
• Literature in English, North America, Ethnic and Cultural Minority
• Women's Studies

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright by the authors.

Repository record dc:identifier

https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/1954

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dc.etsu.edu:etd-3306