Ecotranslation, Artvocacy and Care. A Creative Response to Climate Change Communication


Abstract


Climate change is a planetary crisis, which – among many other societal aspects – involves communication and, in particular, environmental communication. Despite the multiple efforts made to improve its quality and dynamics, environmental communication is defective, highlighting the need to tackle its flaws ethically and, specifically, ‘care-fully’. Drawing on my 2022-2023 Arts Council England project, ‘12 Stories for 12 Days of COP27’, the article reflects on the value of translation – or ecotranslation – as a communicative practice grounded in material and care-full work. The potential of art to facilitate communication between climate change experts, educators, health professionals, creative writers and lay publics and foster climate action and possibly activism among the latter was demonstrated through workshops with artists who translated the stories into prints. The aim of this article is to gain insight into the interconnections between translation and artmaking and the role that these interconnections play in effective ethical communication and advocacy or ARTvocacy (Hunter-Doniger 2020). Reflections on my care-full organization of the project, embedded within a wider international project run by the University of Exeter, are followed by the analysis of creative responses to fictional stories and, more broadly, climate change communication. The article makes use of a combination of approaches from Environmental Communication, Translation Studies and Ecofeminism to unveil not only the value of the project as advocacy but also the need to care and foster care-full work to respond to the climate crisis.

Keywords: ecotranslation; ethics; care; communication; advocacy; action; arts; printmaking; creativity; visual translation; art exhibition

References


Armstrong A.K., Krasny M.E. and Schuldt J.P. 2018, Communicating Climate Change: A Guide for Educators, Cornell University Press/Comstock Publishing Associates, Ithaca/London.

Aron A.R. 2023, The Climate Crisis: Science, Impacts, Policy, Psychology, Justice, Social Movements, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Barad K. 2007, Meeting the Universe Halfway: Quantum Physics and the Entanglement of Matter and Meaning, Duke University Press, Durham, NC.

Bashir N.Y., Lockwood P., Chasteen A., Nadolny D. and Noyes I. 2013, The Ironic Impact of Activists: Negative Stereotypes Reduce Social Change Influence, in “European Journal of Social Psychology” 43 [7], pp. 614-626.

Bassnett S. 2011, Reflections on Translation, Multilingual Matters, Bristol/Buffalo/Toronto.

Bennett K. 2022, The Unsustainable Lightness of Meaning: Reflections on the Material Turn in Translation Studies and Its Intradisciplinary Implications, in Dionísio da Silva G. and Radicioni M. (eds.), Recharting Territories: Intradisciplinarity in Translation Studies, Leuven University Press, Leuven, pp. 49-73.

Berkobien M. 2020, (E)co-Translation: Toward a Collective Task, Doctoral Dissertation, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.

Bilfinger L., Brummernhenrich B. and Jucks R. 2024, The Effects of Fear Appeals on Reactance in Climate Change Communication, in “Journal of Experimental Social Psychology” 115, Article 104666, pp. 1-9.

Bitschnau M. 2024, Seeking Attention, Provoking Reactance: Radical Climate Activism After COVID-19, in “European View” 23 [1], pp. 80-86.

Blumczynski P. 2023, Experiencing Translationality: Material and Metaphorical Journeys, Routledge, London/New York.

Boria M., Carreres Á., Noriega-Sánchez M. and Tomalin M. (eds.) 2020, Translation and Multimodality: Beyond Words, Routledge, London/New York.

Boria M. and Tomalin M. 2020, Introduction, in Boria M., Carreres Á., Noriega-Sánchez M. and Tomalin M. (eds.), Translation and Multimodality: Beyond Words, Routledge, London/New York, pp. 1-23.

Brownlie S. 2022, The Roles of Literature and the Arts in Representing the Migrant and Migration, in Brownlie S. and Abouddahab R. (eds.), Figures of the Migrant: The Roles of Literature and the Arts in Representing Migration, Routledge, London/New York, pp. 3-20.

Bruce J.A. and McKee K.E. 2020, Pedagogy: Developing Advocate Identities, in Bruce J.A. and McKee K.E. (eds.), Transformative Leadership in Action: Allyship, Advocacy & Activism, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 149-162.

Bruhn J. 2021, Towards an Intermedial Ecocriticism, in Elleström L. (ed.), Beyond Media Borders, Volume 2: Intermedial Relations among Multimodal Media, Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, pp. 117-148.

Caimotto M.C. 2023, Climate Changes and Sustainability, in Caimotto M.C. and Raus R. (eds.), Lifestyle Politics in Translation: The Shaping and Re-Shaping of Ideological Discourse, Routledge, London/New York, pp. 124-145.

Castro P. and Rosa M. 2023, Understanding the Paradoxical Effects of (Environmental) Activists and Their Discourses: When and How Are They Penalized for Seeking Change?, in “Environmental Communication” 17 [7], pp. 740–758.

Connelly H. 2019, Beyond Representation: Translation Zone(s) and Intersemiotic Translation, in Campbell M. and Vidal R. (eds.), Translating across Sensory and Linguistic Borders: Intersemiotic Journeys between Media, Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, pp. 217-245.

Cornelio D.M. 2017, New Possibilities for Translation: Care Theory as Criteria for Negotiation, in “Translation and Translanguaging in Multilingual Contexts” 3 [3], pp. 291-303.

Cronin M. 2017, Eco-Translation: Translation and Ecology in the Age of Anthropocene, Routledge, London/New York.

Cronin M. 2019a, Eco-translation, in Washbourne K. and Van Wyke B. (eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Literary Translation, Routledge, London/New York, pp. 482-494.

Cronin M. 2019b, The (In)Humanity of Translation, in “The Translator” 25 [3], pp. 189-203.

Davidson D.J. 2024, The Role of Cynicism in Social Responses to the Climate Emergency, in “Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World” 10, pp. 1-14.

Desblache L. 2020, Translation, Natural History and Music: Thinking Communication beyond the Verbal, in Taivalkoski-Shilov K. and Poncharal B. (eds.), Translating the Voices of Nature / Traduire les Voix de la Nature, Éditions québécoises de l’oeuvre, Montreal, pp. 207-229.

Doyle J. 2024, Practicing Care Through Creative and Collaborative Climate Communication, in Pezzullo P.C. (ed.), Environmental Communication as Care, Special Issue of “Environmental Communication” 18 [1-2], pp. 28-34.

Flower L. 2008, Community Literacy and the Rhetoric of Public Engagement, Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale.

Fraunhofer H. 2023, Translating Plants: A Starting Point, in Beattie P., Bertacco S. and Soldat-Jaffe T. (eds.), Time, Space, Matter in Translation, Routledge, London/New York, pp. 39–52.

Gould R.R and Tahmasebian K. (eds.) 2020, The Routledge Handbook of Translation and Activism, Routledge, London/New York.

Holmes D.C. 2020, Introduction to the Research Handbook on Communicating Climate Change, in Holmes D.C. and Richardson L.M. (eds.), Research Handbook on Communicating Climate Change, Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham, UK/Northampton, MA, pp. 1-20.

Holmqvist G., Roxberg Å., Larsson I. and Lundqvist-Persson C. 2019, Expressions of Vitality Affects and Basic Affects during Art Therapy and their Meaning for Inner Change, in “International Journal of Art Therapy” 24 [1], pp. 30-39.

Huang J. and Guo H. 2024, When a Bleak Future Comes Closer: Interaction Effects of Emotion and Temporal Distance Framing in Climate Change Communication, in “BMC Psychology” 12, Article 677, pp. 2-16.

Hunter-Doniger T. 2020, The A² Curriculum ARTvocacy and Autonomy: Giving a Voice to the Next Generation, in “Art Education” 73 [4], pp. 37-43.

Hutcheon L. 2006, A Theory of Adaptation, Routledge, New York/London.

IPCC 2023, Summary for Policymakers, in Core Writing Team, Lee H. and Romero J. (eds.), Climate Change 2023: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, pp. 1-34.

Johnston J. and Gulliver R. 2022, Public Interest Communication, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Qld.

Jones C., Hine D.W. and Marks A.D.G. 2017, The Future is Now: Reducing Psychological Distance to Increase Public Engagement with Climate Change, in “Risk Analysis” 37 [2], pp. 331–341.

Kibele K., Rosa M. and Obaidi M. 2023, How Different Types of Environmentalists Are Perceived: Changing Perceptions by the Feature, in “Frontiers in Psychology” 14, Article 1125617, pp. 1-18.

Kohn A. and Weissbrod R. 2023, Multimodal Experiences Across Cultures, Spaces and Identities, Routledge, London/New York.

Køppe S., Harder S. and Væver M. 2008, Vitality Affects, in “International Forum of Psychoanalysis” 17 [3], pp. 169-179.

Koskinen K. and Pokorn N.K. (eds.) 2021, The Routledge Handbook of Translation and Ethics, Routledge, London/New York.

Kress G. 2020, Transposing Meaning: Translation in a Multimodal Semiotic Landscape, in Boria M., Carreres Á., Noriega-Sánchez M. and Tomalin M. (eds.), Translation and Multimodality: Beyond Words, Routledge, London/New York, pp. 24-48.

Kutlaca M., van Zomeren M. and Epstude K. 2020, Friends or Foes? How Activists and Nonactivists Perceive and Evaluate Each Other, in “PLoS ONE” 15 [4], Article e0230918, pp. 1-19.

Lambert J. 2023, Translation Ethics, Routledge, London/New York.

Latkin C., Dayton L., Bonneau H., Bhaktaram A., Ross J., Pugel J. and Latshaw M. W. 2023, Perceived Barriers to Climate Change Activism Behaviors in the United States among Individuals Highly Concerned about Climate Change, in “Journal of Prevention” 44 [4], pp. 389–407.

Lejano R.P., Tavares-Reager J. and Berkes F. 2013, Climate and Narrative: Environmental Knowledge in Everyday Life, in “Environmental Science and Policy” 31, pp. 61-70.

Littau K. 2011, First Steps towards a Media History of Translation, in “Translation Studies” 4 [3], pp. 261-281.

Littau K. 2023, “Just Ask the Stones”: Eco-translation, Natural History and Geomedia, in Alonzi L. (ed.), History as a Translation of the Past: Case Studies from the West, Bloomsbury Academic, London, pp. 167-189.

Maestri E. 2024, Art as Generosity, in Coppola F. (ed.), Five Letters Cinque Lettere: J, K, W, X, Y, Mildura Arts Centre, Mildura, pp. 6-13.

Marais K. 2022, Introduction: What Does It Mean to Translate?, in Marais K. (ed.), Translation Beyond Translation Studies, Bloomsbury Academic, London, pp. 1-14.

Markowitz E.M. and Guckian M.L. 2018, Climate Change Communication: Challenges, Insights, and Opportunities, in Clayton S. and Manning C. (eds.), Psychology and Climate Change: Human Perceptions, Impacts, and Responses, Elsevier, Cambridge, MA, pp. 35-63.

Merino-Benítez T., Bojórquez-Tapia L.A., Miquelajauregui Y. and Batllori-Sampedro E. 2024, Navigating Climate Change Complexity and Deep Uncertainty: Approach for Building Socio-Ecological Resilience Using Qualitative Dynamic Simulation, in “Frontiers in Climate” 6, Article 1331945, pp. 1-21.

Moriggi A., Soini K., Franklin A. and Roep D. 2020, A Care-Based Approach to Transformative Change: Ethically-Informed Practices, Relational Response-Ability & Emotional Awareness, in “Ethics, Policy & Environment” 23 [3], pp. 281-298.

Moser S.C. and Dilling L. 2011, Communicating Climate Change: Closing the Science-Action Gap, in Dryzek J.S., Norgaard R.B. and Schlosberg D. (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Climate Change and Society, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 161-174.

Murunga M., Pecl G.T., Ogier E.M., Leith P., Macleod C., Kelly R., Corney S., Van Putten I.E., Mossop D., Cullen-Knox C., Bettiol S., Fox-Hughes P., Sharples C. and Nettlefold J. 2022, More Than Just Information: What Does the Public Want to Know About Climate Change?, in “Ecology and Society” 27 [2], Article 14, unpaginated.

Otieno C., Spada H., Liebler K., Ludemann T., Deil U. and Renkl A. 2014, Informing About Climate Change and Invasive Species: How the Presentation of Information Affects Perception of Risk, Emotions, and Learning, in “Environmental Education Research” 20 [5], pp. 612-638.

Parsons E.C.M. 2016, “Advocacy” and “Activism” Are Not Dirty Words – How Activists Can Better Help Conservation Scientists, in “Frontiers in Marine Science” 3, Article 229, pp. 1-6.

Pezzullo P.C. 2024a, On Environmental Communication as a Care Discipline, in Pezzullo P.C. (ed.), Environmental Communication as Care, Special Issue of “Environmental Communication” 18 [1-2], pp. 1-7.

Pezzullo P.C. (ed.) 2024b, Environmental Communication as Care, Special Issue of “Environmental Communication” 18 [1-2].

Phillips M. 2015, Re-ethicizing Corporate Greening? Ecofeminism, Activism and the Ethics of Care, in Pullen A. and Rhodes C. (eds.), The Routledge Companion to Ethics, Politics and Organizations, Routledge, London/New York, pp. 51-66.

Phillips M. 2016, Embodied Care and Planet Earth: Ecofeminism, Maternalism and Postmaternalism, in “Australian Feminist Studies” 31 [90], pp. 468-485.

Phillips M. 2019, “Daring to Care”: Challenging Corporate Environmentalism, in “Journal of Business Ethics” 156 [4], pp. 1151-1164.

Polezzi L. 2022, Translation, in Burns J. and Duncan D. (eds.), Transnational Modern Languages: A Handbook, Liverpool University Press, Liverpool, pp. 305-312.

Pym A. 2012, On Translator Ethics: Principles for Mediation Between Cultures, John Benjamins Publishing Company, Amsterdam/Philadelphia.

Raja U.S. 2024, Exploring Virtual Reality as a Potential Care Technology, in Pezzullo P.C. (ed.), Environmental Communication as Care, Special Issue of “Environmental Communication” 18 [1-2], pp. 76-81.

Reeves K. 2018 [1999], The Re-vision of Printmaking, in Pelzer-Montada R. (ed.), Perspectives on Contemporary Printmaking: Critical Writing Since 1986, Manchester University Press, Manchester, pp. 71-82.

Roberts H.G.A., Barciela R., Flint S., Fussell I., Maestri E., Mañosa Nyblon C., Marple A., Sabet F. and Stott P. 2023, New Narratives for a Healthy Planet: Creative Writing and Art Projects Reveal We Still Have a Chance, in “The Lancet Planetary Health” 7 [8], pp. 646-647.

Rushton E.A.C. 2024, Responding to the Moral Complexities of Climate Change Education Through Intergenerational Dialogue in Teacher Education, in “Journal of Moral Education” 54 [1], pp. 94-106.

Scerbo R. 2021, Ecoartivism in Times of Climate Change and Toxic Waste Emergencies, in “Confluencia” 36 [2], pp. 141-158.

Shread C. 2023, Ecological Approaches, in Meylaerts R. and Marais K. (eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Translation Theory and Concepts, Routledge, London/New York, pp. 113-125.

Taylor C. 1998, Language to Language: A Practical and Theoretical Guide for Italian/English Translators, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Tipton R. 2024, The Routledge Guide to Teaching Ethics in Translation and Interpreting Education, Routledge, London.

Tymoczko M. 2010, Translation, Resistance, Activism: An Overview, in Tymoczko M. (ed.), Translation, Resistance, Activism, University of Massachusetts Press, Amherst, MA.

Vidal Claramonte M.C.Á. 2022, Translation and Contemporary Art: Transdisciplinary Encounters, Routledge, London/New York.

Washbourne K. 2019, Ethics, in Washbourne K. and Van Wyke B. (eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Literary Translation, Routledge, London/New York, pp. 399-418.

Weisberg R. 2018 [1986], The Syntax of the Print: In Search of an Aesthetic Context, in Pelzer-Montada R. (ed.), Perspectives on Contemporary Printmaking: Critical Writing Since 1986, Manchester University Press, Manchester, pp. 56-68.

Weissbrod R. and Kohn A. 2019, Translating the Visual: A Multimodal Perspective, Routledge, London/New York.

Yusuf J.-E. (Wie) and St. John III B. (eds.) 2022, Communicating Climate Change: Making Environmental Messaging Accessible, Routledge, London/New York.


Full Text: PDF

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.
کاغذ a4 ویزای استارتاپ

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribuzione - Non commerciale - Non opere derivate 3.0 Italia License.