Department of Psychology, SUNY Purchase College.
Department of Psychology, Oberlin College.
Top Cogn Sci. 2023 Jul;15(3):522-545. doi: 10.1111/tops.12651. Epub 2023 Apr 13.
From mother nature and carbon footprints to greenhouse gasses and the race against global warming, popular discourse on environmental issues is saturated with metaphor. Some people view these metaphors as obfuscating or ineffective, while others believe they are crucial for improving climate communications and environmental attitudes. In this paper, we provide a systematic overview and evaluation of the use of English metaphors in Anglo environmental discourse, drawing on a range of empirical and popular media sources. We begin by discussing the role of metaphor in language in thought. Next, we introduce a range of metaphors used to frame discussions of (1) our relationship to nature (e.g., the earth is our common home), (2) our impact on the environment (e.g., we are knocking the climate off balance), and (3) how we should address this impact (e.g., reduce our ecological footprint). We classify these metaphors along several dimensions, including how conventional they are, how systemic they are, how emotionally impactful they are, and how aptly they capture the topics they are used to describe. From this analysis, we derive several promising candidate metaphors that may help increase public understanding and engagement with environmental issues. However, we note that such claims must be tested empirically in future research; currently, there are few large, systematic, replicable experiments in the literature assessing the impact of environmental metaphors. We conclude by offering general recommendations for using metaphors in communications about climate change and sustainability.
从大自然和碳足迹到温室气体和与全球变暖的赛跑，环境问题的大众话语中充斥着隐喻。一些人认为这些隐喻令人困惑或无效，而另一些人则认为它们对于改善气候沟通和环境态度至关重要。在本文中，我们通过一系列实证和大众媒体来源，对英语隐喻在英澳环境话语中的使用进行了系统的概述和评估。我们首先讨论了隐喻在思维中的作用。接下来，我们介绍了一系列用于构建以下讨论的隐喻：（1）我们与自然的关系（例如，地球是我们共同的家园），（2）我们对环境的影响（例如，我们正在使气候失去平衡），以及（3）我们应该如何应对这种影响（例如，减少我们的生态足迹）。我们根据几个维度对这些隐喻进行了分类，包括它们的常规程度、系统程度、情感影响力以及它们在描述主题时的恰当程度。从这种分析中，我们得出了几个有前途的候选隐喻，这些隐喻可能有助于提高公众对环境问题的理解和参与度。但是，我们注意到，此类说法必须在未来的研究中进行实证检验；目前，文献中评估环境隐喻影响的大规模、系统、可复制的实验很少。最后，我们提供了一些关于在气候变化和可持续性沟通中使用隐喻的一般建议。
