Breece Pancake’s Appalachian Landscape
Presentation Type
Presentation
Release Option
Event
Description
The Appalachian region of the US is often dismissed by outsiders as unimportant or too poor to be of any real use. To the people who have lived in the area for generations, however, the land is inextricably tied to their identity and even their humanity. Such is the case for Breece DJ Pancake, whose use of landscape in his short-story cycle serves as a reflection of his characters’ experiences. This essay draws on new historic criticism to reframe the deterministic qualities of the land. Breathtaking and heartbreaking, triumphant and utterly broken down – Pancake’s outer world works metaphorically to reflect the inner workings of Colly from the cycle’s opening story, “Trilobites,” as he struggles to reconcile his fierce loyalty to the past, its traditions, and his family ties with the encroaching modern world.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Faculty Mentor
Dr. Olivia Carr Edenfield
Department of Primary Presenter's Major
Department of Writing & Linguistics
Location
Concurrent Sessions (Room 239)
Symposium Year
2022
Breece Pancake’s Appalachian Landscape
Concurrent Sessions (Room 239)
