Abstract
This essay juxtaposes works about East Kentucky coal communities by Elmore Leonard and bell hooks to consider what “coal identity politics” might be in the Anthropocene. The election of Donald Trump enabled new performances of white supremacy, in part through his appeal to coal nostalgia. At the same time, his environmental policies pose a threat to that little progress achieved by the Paris Accord. This entanglement demands a more nuanced approach to the affective dimensions of nostalgia from scholars of the Anthropocene. This essay explores the consequences of the nostalgia evoked in representations of coal mining communities.
Highlights
Coal provided a useful catalyst for political affect in Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and in the first year of his presidency
This essay develops an Anthropocene understanding of coal identity politics by reading the Donald Trump presidency against cultural texts related to East Kentucky coal mining
Karen Pinkus and Andreas Malm have demonstrated how coal use, often generically condemned in Anthropocene commentary, must be understood as part of a political economy that focuses on energy relations
Summary
Arthur Rose MFS Modern Fiction Studies, Volume 64, Number 4, Winter 2018, pp. For additional information about this article https://muse.jhu.edu/article/711933.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
