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Constructing Nature: Stories we Live By

Module description

This module explores how our understanding of nature and our relationship with it is constructed through stories we live by in our everyday life. These stories are structures in the mind of individuals and social groups which influence how we think, understand, and talk about nature. They are embedded in a wide range of discourses such as advertising, veganism, films, travel writing, the promotion of touristic destinations and lifestyles, meat industry guidelines, pet manuals etc. These stories shape our understanding of the state of ecological and environmental issues we are facing, and they can also inspire us to take positive and constructive action and change dominant narratives and look for positive and inspiring stories that can lead to a less destructive society and help us become more engaged citizens. The module will focus on a broad range of written and visual stories across languages and cultures and it will help you dissect, reveal, understand, and reconstruct these stories.

Module aims - intentions of the module

The module aims to allow students to:

• Understand how the stories we tell about nature can contribute to destructive or positive attitudes towards the ecological problems we face as a society
• Analyse a range of resources taken from a broad range of discourses in different languages and cultures (farming manuals and vegan graffiti, consumer advertising and green washing discourses, film and media, etc.)
• Develop an interrogative approach to different kinds of written and visual texts on nature with a view to understanding the stories embedded in them
• Develop an understanding of key analytical frameworks and relevant terminology
• Provide a research-led and interdisciplinary approach, allowing students to develop a range of skills through appropriate analytical frameworks.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Demonstrate an understanding of how the stories we live by frame our view and appreciation of nature and ecological problems drawing on the module lectures and learning resources
• 2. Demonstrate an ability to analyse a range of written and visual discourses using the critical perspective developed in the module

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 3. Present a sustained written argument in an appropriate register on topics relevant to the module content
• 4. Identify and research library and electronic resources on a topic relevant to the module content; Use effectively recommended reference works to support an original analysis and discussion

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 5. Demonstrate effective personal organisation skills
• 6. Undertake independent study and research on the basis of a taught course, managing learning times and asking for guidance when necessary
• 7. Present information and arguments on a designated topic to a group of listeners and respond to questions and comments from the group, and communicate clearly and in an informative manner in written and oral form
• 8. Engage with methods and people who represent opinions and viewpoints different from your own

Syllabus plan

Whilst the content may vary from year to year, the topics are likely to include: 

• Stories we live by
• Ideologies, metaphors, framings, identities
• Destructive stories: Overconsumption, greenwashing, and advertising
• The meat industry story
• Communicating climate change – different stories we live by
• Alternative stories of nature
• Nature as a commodity story (Tourism) and the art of slow travel
• Films: Cows (2021) by Andrea Arnold and On Body and Soul (2017) by Ildikó Enyedi.

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• Cook, Guy. The language of advertising. Routledge, 2008.
• Cole, Matthew, and Karen Morgan. "Vegaphobia: Derogatory discourses of veganism and the reproduction of speciesism in UK national newspapers 1." The British journal of sociology 62.1 (2011): 134-153.
• Fairclough, Norman. Critical discourse analysis: The critical study of language. Routledge, 2013.
• Hughes, Neil. "Exploring vegan ideology through graffiti slogans." Discourse & Society 32.5 (2021): 575-597.
• Fill, Alwin, and Peter Muhlhausler, eds. Ecolinguistics reader: Language, ecology and environment. A&C Black, 2006.
• Fill, Alwin F., and Hermine Penz, eds. The Routledge handbook of ecolinguistics. Routledge, 2017.
• Kress, Gunther and Theo Van Leeuwen. Reading images: The grammar of visual design. 2^nd edition. Routledge. 2006
• Lakoff, George, and Mark Johnson. Metaphors we live by. University of Chicago press, 2008.
• Myers, Greg. Words in Ads. Edward Arnold, 1994.
• Pick, Anat, and Guinevere Narraway, eds. Screening nature: Cinema beyond the human. Berghahn Books, 2013.
• Rust, Stephen, Salma Monani, and Sean Cubitt, eds. Ecocinema theory and practice. Routledge, 2013.
• Stibbe, Arran. Animals erased: Discourse, ecology, and reconnection with the natural world. Wesleyan University Press, 2012.
• Stibbe, Arran. Ecolinguistics: Language, ecology and the stories we live by. Routledge, 2020.
• Thibodeau, Paul H., Cynthia McPherson Frantz, and Matias Berretta. "The earth is our home: systemic metaphors to redefine our relationship with nature." Climatic Change 142 (2017): 287-300.

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

Web-based and electronic resources will be available on the ELE module page.

Key words search

Nature, language, ecolinguistics, communication, media, culture