Decoding Environmental Narratives: a Semiotic Analysis of Climate Change Representation in Contemporary Climate Literature
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: This research investigates the semiotic mechanisms through which contemporary climate literature transforms complex environmental phenomena into emotionally resonant and intellectually accessible narratives. Employing interdisciplinary semiotic analysis, the study examines how literary texts function as sophisticated communication systems that mediate public understanding of climate change through symbolic representations, linguistic innovations, and experimental narrative structures. The research addresses the critical gap between scientific climate discourse and public comprehension by analysing how authors construct meaning through various symbolic systems within Anthropocene literature. The methodological framework integrates classical semiotic theory with postcolonial criticism, environmental humanities, and narrative analysis to examine multiple dimensions of climate communication.The study focuses on symbolic representations of nature that transform abstract scientific data into visceral imagery, linguistic signification strategies that create new vocabularies for environmental experience, and narrative structures that mirror climate system complexity through formal experimentation.Particular attention is given to multimodal signification approaches integrating diverse knowledge systems, including scientific data, personal testimony, indigenous wisdom, and speculative futures.Findings reveal that effective climate literature operates through interconnected semiotic networks that engage readers across cognitive, emotional, and imaginative dimensions.The analysis demonstrates how transformative narratives challenge dominant "doom and gloom" environmental communication by creating spaces for agency and possibility rather than paralysis and despair.The research identifies significant decolonial dimensions within climate literature that critique Eurocentric environmental narratives while presenting alternative epistemological frameworks grounded in cultural diversity and environmental justice.The study's implications extend beyond literary criticism to practical environmental communication strategies.Results suggest that sophisticated semiotic construction in climate literature creates opportunities for environmental understanding that exceed the possibilities of purely scientific or policy discourse.The research contributes to growing scholarship in environmental humanities while providing insights for climate communication practitioners, educators, and policymakers seeking more effective approaches to environmental engagement across diverse cultural contexts.
Source: Lviv Philological Journal
Author: V. O. Pshoniak
Institution: Lviv University
Language: English
Subfield: Literature and Literary Theory
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Climate action
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4412923738