Appalachia

NOTES: The category of images that appear in a Google search are the following -

People Of
Mountains
Poverty
Rural
Modern People Of

Appalachia seems to be viewed from the external as a marginal place and people - far beyond the outskirts of urban centers, modernity, and economic power. I'd like to attach this idea to something I'm exploring in another class - creating a framework to understand urban-rural dialectics. In many cases, the idea of rural is arbitrarily considered a condition of marginality.

I'm particularly interested in this framework and its problems because my family comes from a tradition rooted in what is considered marginality. My parents and all of their known ancestors are Hakka, which is a clan that comes out of the Yellow River area in China in the 13th century. They were known to flee from empirical rule by migrating to and from marginal lands, bringing with them the bones of their ancestors. Hakka means "guest" and traditionally insinuates poverty. Living on what was considered the margin afforded Hakka people freedom to maintain their own identity and language, a characteristic I think is related to the position of Appalachia.