Summary of Social-Symbolic Constructions of Environment

Society’s perceptions of nature changes as new voices and interest arise to contest or challenge prevailing understandings. This social - symbolic perspective is a distinctly human process of construction, questioning, and persuasion.

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• Social constructionist understanding of nature uses terminology as one way of understanding and uses problems of environmental issues as another way of understanding.

• Three dimensions of approach toward a rhetorical perspective are available: (1) rhetorical tropes and genres, (2) communication frames, (3) dominant and critical discourse.

• Visual rhetoric is how photographs, art, and film can affect attitudes and behavior toward nature. Its two aspects are (1) visual images represent or re-represent nature and (2) visualization of environmental problems.

Social-Symbolic Construction of Nature 

Scholars Donna Haraway, Andrew Ross, Klaus Eder, Bruno Latour, and Neil Evernden started reshaping society’s perceptions of environmental problems through social-symbolic perspectives. They highlighted that there is no “objective” environment because the environment (and anything else perceived by anyone alive) is perceived through subjective means and therefore is plastic in its identity depending upon the preconceived notions and beliefs of the individual doing the perceiving. Of course, the world exists as a solid reality, but how it is viewed does not. 

Terministic Screens and Naming 

Keeping an eye on the language used to describe the environment as language falls into the traps mentioned in the previous section. It is all subjective. Language must be carefully chosen in order to shape positive understandings of and policies toward the environment. Thus naming things is highly important because it’s how we know the world—“global warming” vs. “climate change” or “biosolids” vs. “sewage sludge” (Note: biosolids are described as “the nutrient-rich organic materials resulting from the treatment of domestic waste at a wastewater treatment facility” and have been known to be sold by sewage treatment plants as fertilizer).

A Rhetorical Perspective 

Rhetoric has been defined as the ability to discover in any given case the available means of persuasion. So the art of rhetoric is the art of finding out how to persuade people to agree with your point or argument. Rhetoric in the form of public debates, protests, advertising, and other symbolic action is frequently used in an attempt to persuade the public or society. And while rhetoric is very useful in persuading people, it is also very important in the shaping of an original idea or new concept as well. Not only can it change people’s minds, but it has also invented the way they think about things from the start. Widely used in rhetoric are tropes (changing through persuasion the perception of the true meaning of something). One of the most common tropes is metaphor (comparing things by talking about it in other terms—“mother Earth” or “carbon footprint” are examples of this). Also used are rhetorical genres (distinct forms or types of speech—such as “the sublime” or “the apocalyptic” or “the melodrama”) which evoke a style of description that equate a particular issue with themes and emotions of other more well-known things (like melodramas). The apocalyptic narrative literary style has been used frequently as a warning of impending ecological crises. Also used are jeremiad (a lamenting or denouncing with a warning to change one's ways) and environmental melodrama (polarizes distinctions with moral gravity and pathos, thus remoralizing situations). The Lorax is an example of a jeremiad and news shows exploiting corporate cover-ups of employee dangers is an example of an environmental melodrama. 

Communication Frames 

A-frame helps construct a particular view or orientation to some aspect of reality—in other words, a “frame” is a way of looking at something differently, an angle. 

Dominant and Critical Discourses 

A discourse is a recurring pattern of speaking or writing that has developed socially. Dominant discourse is a discourse that has gained a broad or taken-for-granted status in a culture or when its meanings help to legitimize certain practices. Critical discourses are challenges of society’s taken-for-granted assumptions and offer alternatives to prevailing discourses. 

Visual Rhetorics: Portraying Nature 

Beyond language is the communication of visual rhetorics. Whether from nature documentaries highlighting the wonders of the natural world, or news specials underscoring the gritty realities of corporate pollution on a suffering planet, visual rhetoric can be exceedingly effective in getting one’s point across. Visual rhetorics persuade by influencing perception or by constructing environmental problems like the need for ocean cleanup. Visual representations influence meaning and suggest an orientation to the world. A powerful example of this is seeing the recent visual rhetorics about polar bears and their disappearing arctic habitat. One can be told about it, or one can be shown a 2 minute YouTube clip of an extremely thin polar bear drowning in miles and miles of the open sea. Not only does this get the idea across but polar bears then act as a condensation symbol which is a symbol that signifies so much more than its starting context. 

Visualizing Environmental Problems 

As listed above, the polar bear scenario is an excellent visualization of environmental problems. These visuals can create or manufacture an entire society’s consciousness as to what issues are currently considered problematic. Understanding this allows for environmentalists to utilize this as a powerful tool in their crusade from a cleaner, healthier world; but it should also be recognized as a paragon of responsibility because once reality has been defined, it can get away from you rather quickly and unforeseen consequences can follow without warning.