The Archive of Traditional Appalachian Speech and Culture

Does Appalachia speak with one voice, one that always sounds the same? One might be excused for thinking so from how the media gloss over immense social, economic, and historical differences and treat the region as if uniform. Scholarly presentations (especially of Appalachia’s southern half) often create similar impressions by generalizing from one locality to the larger region. We in Appalachian Studies may preach even teach the “diversity” of Appalachia, but how do we show this? Just how do we get round the habit of submerging the differences and speaking of Appalachia generically, especially in regard to speech? In short, how can we document diversity in its English? This presentation introduces a project in progress that is designed to address the issues above, both to hear individual voices and to compare sub-regional speech patterns: the Archive of Traditional Appalachian Speech and Culture. ATASC is a repository under construction of more than two hundred traditional speakers from thirteen constituent areas around Southern Appalachia, from West Virginia to North Georgia. Speakers are presented in two forms–texts (careful, reliable written transcriptions of oral history recordings) and in voices (audio versions of interviews or interview excerpts). The project has transcribed more than three hundred hours to date. This presentation discusses the motivations of the project, the timeframe it covers, the criteria used in selecting material, its transcription methodology, the location of its constituent areas, and other features, with commentary on its political significance