Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current
    • Archive
  • Info for
    • Authors
    • Subscribers
    • Institutions
    • Advertisers
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Editorial Board
  • Connect
    • Feedback
    • Help
  • Alerts
  • ASLA Research Grant
  • Other Publications
    • UWP

User menu

  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • My alerts
  • Log in

Search

  • Advanced search
Landscape Journal
  • Other Publications
    • UWP
  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • My alerts
  • Log in
Landscape Journal

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current
    • Archive
  • Info for
    • Authors
    • Subscribers
    • Institutions
    • Advertisers
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Editorial Board
  • Connect
    • Feedback
    • Help
  • Alerts
  • ASLA Research Grant
  • Follow uwp on Twitter
  • Visit uwp on Facebook
Research ArticlePeer-Reviewed Articles

The Vanishing Landscape of the Southern West Virginia Coalfields

Stefania Staniscia
Landscape Journal, January 2022, 41 (2) 19-37; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3368/lj.41.2.19
Stefania Staniscia
Stefania Staniscia is an associate professor of Landscape Architecture at West Virginia University. She is a licensed architect and landscape architect in Italy. She has degrees from Università di Pescara, Italy (M Arch), ETSAB, Spain (MLA), and Università IUAV di Venezia, Italy (PhD). Her research focuses on anthropogenic landscape changes. Studying the key drivers of these alterations and their main impacts on the landscape from a longitudinal perspective, she places cultural landscapes at the center of her investigations. Staniscia is currently examining the Appalachian coalfields and the aftermath of surface mining on the landscape and the communities that inhabit it.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Info & Metrics
  • References
  • PDF
Loading

Abstract

Within the landscape of the Central Appalachian coalfields, entire areas exist under the threat of mountaintop removal coal mining and depopulation. This article offers, for the first time, a description of the contemporary landscape of the southern West Virginia coalfields (SWVC) from a cultural landscape perspective. Through a directed qualitative content analysis (CA) of Ann Pancake’s novel Strange as This Weather Has Been (2007), the study examines the novel’s depiction of the landscape as a space of endangered, low-forested mountains and narrow valleys, heavily altered by industrial activities and made vulnerable to human-made disasters, whose inhabitants grieve its disappearance and the vanishing of the mountain culture. This portrayal of the SWVC landscape is validated by scientific literature in various disciplines. The investigation provides a new perspective on how a CA of a work of fiction—when coupled with “‘holistic’ models of landscape” interpretation (Stephenson, 2008, 129)—can be used to reveal aspects of a landscape that are often disregarded, such as its cultural values. It also shows that CA can be a reliable source of information in landscape studies and be used as a valuable alternative when primary sources are unavailable. The study presents a unique representation of the SWVC region that underlines the often overlooked tangible and intangible qualities of its landscapes.

KEYWORDS
  • Appalachia
  • cultural landscape
  • fiction
  • Cultural Values Model
  • © 2022 by the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System

This article requires a subscription to view the full text. If you have a subscription you may use the login form below to view the article. Access to this article can also be purchased.

Log in using your username and password

Forgot your user name or password?

Log in through your institution

You may be able to gain access using your login credentials for your institution. Contact your library if you do not have a username and password.
If your organization uses OpenAthens, you can log in using your OpenAthens username and password. To check if your institution is supported, please see this list. Contact your library for more details.
PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

Landscape Journal: 41 (2)
Landscape Journal
Vol. 41, Issue 2
1 Jan 2022
  • Table of Contents
  • Table of Contents (PDF)
  • Index by author
  • Back Matter (PDF)
  • Front Matter (PDF)
Download PDF
Article Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on Landscape Journal.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
The Vanishing Landscape of the Southern West Virginia Coalfields
(Your Name) has sent you a message from Landscape Journal
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the Landscape Journal web site.
Citation Tools
The Vanishing Landscape of the Southern West Virginia Coalfields
Stefania Staniscia
Landscape Journal Jan 2022, 41 (2) 19-37; DOI: 10.3368/lj.41.2.19

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Share
The Vanishing Landscape of the Southern West Virginia Coalfields
Stefania Staniscia
Landscape Journal Jan 2022, 41 (2) 19-37; DOI: 10.3368/lj.41.2.19
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One
Bookmark this article

Jump to section

  • Article
  • Info & Metrics
  • References
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • No related articles found.
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • No citing articles found.
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • The Olmsteds and the Land-Grant Universities
  • Protecting the Identity of Sheep-Farming Landscapes in the Outer Carpathians: A Typology, Delimitation, and Interpretation
Show more Peer-Reviewed Articles

Similar Articles

Keywords

  • Appalachia
  • cultural landscape
  • fiction
  • Cultural Values Model
UWP

© 2023 Landscape Journal

Powered by HighWire