{"id":349,"date":"2021-11-17T08:12:04","date_gmt":"2021-11-17T16:12:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/webspace.royalroads.ca\/k5martin\/?p=349"},"modified":"2021-11-17T08:14:21","modified_gmt":"2021-11-17T16:14:21","slug":"tiny-ecology-decolonizing-the-language-of-nature","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webspace.royalroads.ca\/k5martin\/tiny-ecology-decolonizing-the-language-of-nature\/","title":{"rendered":"Tiny Ecology: Decolonizing the Language of Nature"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Image: Kurt Cotoaga, 2018<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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There is a quote that is attributed to David Suzuki which has drastically shaped the way I move through the world. It goes like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe way we see the world shapes the way we treat it. If a mountain is a deity, not a pile of ore; if a river is one of the veins of the land, not potential irrigation water; if a forest is a sacred grove, not timber; if other species are biological kin, not resources; or if the planet is our mother, not an opportunity — then we will treat each other with greater respect. Thus is the challenge, to look at the world from a different perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I often hold this quote close when I see the destruction humans have wrought on the planet – it reminds me that perspectives can, and often do, change as we are provided with more information. It gives me hope that as we begin to embrace the realities of the climate crisis, we might start to view the world differently, and therefore start to change the way we treat it. Hopefully, this change does not come too late. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This quote also reminds me of how important language is. We know that some communication strategies are more effective than others at eliciting a desired response from the public regarding important issues like climate change and that certain barriers to communication exist depending on the population you are attempting to reach (Kaushal et al, 2021). Strong language has been proven to be more effective than passive language, and that terms like \u201cclimate emergency\u201d and \u201cglobal heating\u201d are the preferred new terms amongst groups such as the UN and the EU, as opposed to \u201cclimate change\u201d and \u201cglobal warming\u201d, which don\u2019t suggest the same level of \u201cexistential threat\u201d, according to The United Nations secretary-general, Ant\u00f3nio Guterres (Carrington, 2019). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe way we see the world shapes the way we treat it. If a mountain is a deity, not a pile of ore; if a river is one of the veins of the land, not potential irrigation water; if a forest is a sacred grove, not timber; if other species are biological kin, not resources; or if the planet is our mother, not an opportunity – then we will treat each other with greater respect. Thus is the challenge, to look at the world from a different perspective.\u201d<\/em><\/strong>
– David Suzuki<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The language we use matters in how we communicate the effects of climate change on our planet, but also how we act<\/em> towards the planet. When I rest at my sit-spot and remember that this body of water is a \u2018Migratory Bird Sanctuary\u2019 rather than just a humble \u2018waterway\u2019, do I act differently towards it? Do I take extra care to ensure that none of my garbage is taken by the wind, do I pay more attention to the metal debris visible through the water? When we recognize that this place, this land we are on is home to more beings than ourselves, do we keep the noise down so as not to bother our neighbours? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In her article for Orion Magazine, \u201cSpeaking of Nature\u201d, Robin Wall Kimmerer discusses the \u201clinguistic imperialism\u201d which permeates Western Culture, and \u201cthe replacement of a language of animacy with one of objectification of nature, which renders the beloved land as a lifeless object, the forest as board feet of timber\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, there is a push in climate communication to use language that is more accessible, more \u201cuser-friendly\u201d and \u201caudience appropriate\u201d. But it feels to me that the easiest way to engage humanity in the fight for the planet is to remind ourselves that the planet is a living, breathing, life-giving being. Decolonizing the language we use to refer to nature can remind us that far from being separate from this planet and the beings that inhabit \u201cit\u201d, we are one with, and most importantly, dependant on<\/em> them. As Kimmerer reminds us, \u201cinstead of ignoring our mutual relationship, [we must] celebrate it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

References:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carrington, D. (2019).  Why the Guardian is changing the language it uses about the environment. The Guardian.<\/em>
Retrieved from https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/2019\/may\/17\/why-the-guardian-is-changing-the-language-it-uses-about-the-environment<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kaushal, S., Dhammi, S., & Guha, A. (2021). Climate crisis and language\u2013A constructivist ecolinguistic approach. Materials Today: Proceedings<\/em>. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.matpr.2021.08.093<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kimmerer, R. W. (2017). Speaking of nature: Finding language that affirms our kinship with the natural world. Orion Magazine<\/em>. 
Retrieved from https:\/\/orionmagazine.org\/article\/speaking-of-nature\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Image: Cotoaga, K. (2018). Torres del Paine. Retrieved from https:\/\/unsplash.com\/photos\/cqbLg3lZEpk<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There is a quote that is attributed to David Suzuki which has drastically shaped the way I move through the world. It goes like this: \u201cThe way we see the world shapes the way we treat it. If a mountain is a deity, not a pile of ore; if a river is one of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":953,"featured_media":350,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[96,37,97,42,76,68,41,106,108,103,104,105,107],"class_list":["post-349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cals502","tag-blog","tag-climate-action","tag-climate-blog","tag-climate-change","tag-climate-communication","tag-climate-crisis","tag-climate-emergency","tag-david-suzuki","tag-global-heating","tag-language","tag-nature","tag-planet","tag-quote"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webspace.royalroads.ca\/k5martin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webspace.royalroads.ca\/k5martin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webspace.royalroads.ca\/k5martin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webspace.royalroads.ca\/k5martin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/953"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webspace.royalroads.ca\/k5martin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=349"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/webspace.royalroads.ca\/k5martin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":352,"href":"https:\/\/webspace.royalroads.ca\/k5martin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349\/revisions\/352"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webspace.royalroads.ca\/k5martin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webspace.royalroads.ca\/k5martin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webspace.royalroads.ca\/k5martin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webspace.royalroads.ca\/k5martin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}