School of Social and Political Science

Description

The notion that our food choices reflect our identities is deep-seated and widely shared across cultures; for Appalachia, its food, like its people, is often presented as crude, primitive, and in need of improvement. This seminar critically explores the rhetorical meanings of Appalachian foodways, arguing that they demonstrate a region built on rhetorics of resilience that strengthen, but also stereotypically undermine, the region. After providing a brief overview of the region and contextualizing the rhetorical approach to studying foodways, this argument is first developed by exploring how whiteness functions rhetorically in Appalachia.  How rhetorical circulation works with food is then detailed, illustrating how Appalachian food traditions demonstrate a resilient region that challenges some of the white narrative, while also reifying it in other ways. Specifically, rhetorical fieldwork locates three significant topics of resilience that shape an understanding of the region: the Scots-Irish frontier myth and its resistance to change, ingenuity amidst challenge, and sustained, but overlooked, diversity. The portrayal of Appalachia that is offered through the area’s foodways opens the region up to a broader citizenry and provides a wider appeal to all types of travelers.  Foodways serve as a significant pathway to explore these complex stories, providing an abundance of rhetorical and regional messaging, an easier way to open up conversations, and a way for Appalachians to tell their stories through the food that they grow, cook, serve, eat, and discuss.