How They Shine: Melungeon Characters in the Fiction of Appalachia

In How They Shine: Melungeon Characters in the Fiction of Appalachia, Vande Brake argues that fiction writers choose to create Melungeon characters, incorporate Melungeon lore, and replicate the Melungeon experience because Melungeon is such a powerful metaphor. Their use of Melungeons is not intended as an insult, but instead as a way to say more with less. Melungeon means mystery, unpredictability, isolation, prejudice, passion, volatility, superstition, pride. Melungeon means fiery moonshine “likker,” beautiful dark-skinned women, and handsome, reckless men. Melungeon conjures visions of independent life on Appalachian ridges, tongue-speaking preachers handling poisonous snakes, secluded log cabins with arched windows, and family genealogies complete with foreign-sounding names. Melungeon assumes exotic ethnic origins in the days before the English colonized North America.