Author Description

Focusing on three major phases in writing about Southern Appalachian mountain people, this study surveys some of the images and depictions of mountain women from the 1880s to the 1950s, in the writings of Mary Noailles Murfree, Edith Summers Kelley, Anne W. Armstrong, Emma Bell Miles, Jesse Stuart, James Still and Harriette Arnow. The two major aims of the study are: to show changes in the descriptions of mountain women - from non-native to native depictions, from romantic to realistic presentations, and from an emphasis on victimization and drudgery to an emphasis on strength and endurance; and to identify those qualities which have consistently characterized mountain women in literature.