The Symbolic Earth : Discourse and Our Creation of the Environment

ISBN 10: 0813119731 / ISBN 13: 9780813119731

Published by University Press of Kentucky, 1996

About this Item

Former library copy. Pages intact with minimal writing/highlighting. The binding may be loose and creased. Dust jackets/supplements are not included. Includes library markings. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good.

Seller Inventory # 16490230-6

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Symbolic Earth : Discourse and Our Creation of the Environment
• Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
• Publication Date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0813119731
• ISBN 13: 9780813119731
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Good
• Weight: 1.499 pounds

About this title

Synopsis

The core dilemma in environmental advocacy may be illustrated by the question, "When we communicate about the world, should we stress what we know or what we feel?" The contributors to The Symbolic Earth argue that it is more important to decide how we should talk about what we know and feel. In their view, the environment is larely a product of how we talk about the world.

Because the environment is a social construction, the only hope we have of preserving it is to understand and alter the fundamental ways we discuss it. This collection first examines the ways in which discourse creates environment perceptions. Subjects discussed range from the description of natural scenery to the advocacy of political interest groups, from the everyday interactions of citizens facing environmental crises to the greenwashing of corporate imagemakers, and from the psychology of the mass public to the social constructions of the mass media. The authors include nationally known scholars of environmental history, rhetorical theory, ethnography, communication and journalism studies, public policy, and media criticism.

From the Back Cover

Believing that the environment is largely a product of how we talk about the world, the contributors to The Symbolic Earth argue that the only hope we have of preserving the environment is to understand and alter the fundamental ways we discuss it.