| Popis: |
This chapter explores the power of ecolinguistics, ecocriticism and lived experience to help people rediscover and reconnect with nature: not just the relatively solid forms of plants, animals, soil and landscapes but also the more transient wind, sun, rain, mist and snow. The combination of the solid, slowly-changing forms of nature and the quickly-changing forms of weather can be described as the Weatherworld. One task for environmental communication is to encourage people to live in the Weatherworld, experiencing and enjoying the local nature around them in all weathers, rather than staying indoors being entertained by gadgets, shopping in a covered mall or flying off in search of the sun. Living in the Weatherworld can not only help people fulfil their needs without excess consumption, it can also encourage them to value their local plants, trees, wildlife and the larger ecosystems that life depends on. Ecolinguistics can play a role in encouraging people to reconnect with the Weatherworld through critical awareness of how language encodes the stories we live by. |
