Women's Work: A Look At The Transformative Power Of Female Labor In Appalachian Literature

The people of Appalachia have long been misunderstood and misrepresented. Women, in particular, have historically been shown in fiction as weak victims. I sense, in Appalachian women that I know as well as the ones I have encountered in fiction, a strength that separates them from other women. It is this strength of body and spirit that is brought forth in their labor that I attempt to study in this thesis.