Of Mountain Flesh: Space, Religion, and the Creatureliness of Appalachia

Date of Award

2018

Degree Name

Ph.D. in Theology

Department

Department of Theology

Advisor/Chair

Advisor: Vince Miller

Abstract

The following dissertation articulates a constructive theology of creatureliness that speaks from within the particularities of Appalachia’s spatial topography and religious culture. I analyze the historical development and ecological implications of industrial resource extraction, specifically the practice of mountaintop removal, within the broader framework of urbanization and anthropocentrism. Drawing on the unique religio-cultural traditions of the region, particularly its 19th century expressions of Christianity, I employ a spatial hermeneutic through which I emphasize the region’s environmental and bodily elements and articulate a theological argument for the “creaturely flesh” of Appalachia.

Keywords

Theology, Religion, constructive theology, creature, Appalachia, mountaintop removal, flesh, rural, industrial resource extraction, urbanization, anthropocentrism, philosophy of space, 19th century religion, Christianity, Henri Lefebvre, Maurice Merleau-Ponty

Rights Statement

Copyright © 2018, author

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