Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1
PhD Candidate, Department of English Language and Literature, SR.C., Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
2
Assistant Professor, Department of English, Pa.C., Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
3
Assistant Professor, Department of English, Ab.C., Islamic Azad University, Abhar, Iran
10.22034/cls.2026.145536.1572
Abstract
Ecological loss is not experienced solely as environmental degradation; it can also unsettle attachments to place, patterns of inheritance, and senses of individual and regional identity. In Appalachian communities shaped by technological modernization, industrial exploitation, and resource depletion, these transformations produce complex and uneven forms of socio-ecological change. Focusing on Harriette Simpson Arnow’s Between the Flowers (1997), this study examines how the novel represents these transformations and their effects on relationships among land, technology, and Appalachian communities. To develop this analysis, the study introduces four synthesized concepts—Anthrochthonicity, Techno-Colonization, Symbio-cyborg Artificiality, and Biophilosolasta—drawing on and extending insights from existing ecocritical and environmental theories. Through interdisciplinary close reading informed by ecocriticism and environmental humanities, the study examines technological intrusion, industrial exploitation, resource depletion, gendered experiences of ecological loss, and changing forms of place-based belonging. It argues that Between the Flowers documents and critically confronts the forces that threaten ecological and cultural sustainability. The analysis reveals interconnected complexities, including regional displacement, solastalgia, disruptions in generational inheritance, and transformations of individual, communal, and regional identity. By synthesizing established theories into four complementary conceptual lenses, this study offers a novel framework for understanding Appalachian environmental and regional identity.
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