Multiplot Serial Narrative And Climate Change

International Journal of Climate Change: Impacts and Responses, 2014

Critical commentary of climate change fiction is often framed around its aesthetic function (is it good literature?) and/or its didactic function (does it change behaviour or attitudes?). We argue that an alternative approach instead might ask what fiction can tell us about the psychology of public knowledge, fear and imagination about a climate-changed future. In a review of the fictional literature we found that as climate change has moved from a primarily scientific concern to being a broader political and cultural issue, fictional representations have also moved from science fiction out into a broader array of fictional sub-genres. In addition to loosely reflecting contemporary science, fictional accounts are increasingly characterised by a sense of hopelessness and a lack of faith in authorities. These fictional trends suggest that while readers and writers are willing to explore and appraise the risk and severity of climate change, there is little evidence of the coping appraisal which is, psychologically, a necessary step in taking action to reduce risk.

Environmental Communication, 2013

This article examines the framing of environmental risks and natural disasters in factual entertainment television programs of the early 2000s, a hybrid form combining techniques from documentary with techniques such as dramatic reconstructions and computer generated imagery from entertainment genres. Using qualitative frame analysis, the article examines a range of factual entertainment television programs' framing of environmental risk and natural disasters in terms of their attitudes, representation of human participants, and visual composition. The article considers the similarities and differences in the framing of natural disasters as factual entertainment compared to the framing of natural disasters in news, documentary and fiction film. The article argues that such programs offer representational frames both consonant with and distinct from other media, and concludes that they problematically offer a predominantly fatalistic response to environmental risk, constructing natural disasters as voyeuristic spectacles for vicarious entertainment.

Nicola Dusi and Charo Lacalle (eds.) Chernobyl Calling. Narrative, Intermediality and Cultural Memory of a Docu-fiction. Punctum Semiotic Monographs (International Journal of Semiotics), 2024

This chapter argues that the multiplot aesthetic of the HBO miniseries Chernobyl offers viewers a unique and cognitively rewarding pathway to understanding the complexity of the 1986 nuclear disaster. Drawing on the cognitive psychology of narrative comprehension, particularly the theory of mental models, the analysis demonstrates how the series' architecture facilitates a deeper cognitive awakening in the viewer. Rather than presenting a single narrative thread, Chernobyl constructs a network of interconnected plots that explore the event from multiple perspectives: technical, political, human, and ethical. The study highlights how strategies such as information-dense scenes and the meticulous recreation of spatial dimensions enable the simultaneous advancement of several plotlines, compelling the audience to actively make inferences and identify causal relationships. This active cognitive engagement, driven by narrative emotions like curiosity and suspense, fosters a state of narrative absorption. Ultimately, the chapter concludes that Chernobyl's multiplot structure is not merely a stylistic choice but a functional aesthetic device that enhances the viewer's ability to comprehend the multifaceted causes and consequences of the catastrophe.

Environmental Communication, 2025

How have popular films responded to – or avoided – the climate and nature crises? To begin to answer this question systematically, quantitative content analysis was applied to 250 of the most-rated fictional films on IMDb that were released between 2013 and 2022. We found that climate change existed in 12.8% of these films, while a global environmental problem (climate change, freshwater pollution, marine pollution, air pollution, deforestation, species extinction and biodiversity decline, or toxic waste) existed in 26%; the presence of climate change, as well as common climate impacts, increased substantially over time; when climate change and other environmental problems were present, they were generally mentioned in just one or two scenes, and their gravity and/or urgency was not emphasized. As the first systematic, large-scale analysis of the presence and portrayal of climate change and other environmental problems in fictional narratives in the academic literature, this article illustrates a potentially productive area of future research, which is discussed.

Good Energy and the Buck Lab for Climate & Environment at Colby College, 2024

Most research that has examined climate change in film has focused on anomalous climate-focused films such as The Day After Tomorrow and Don’t Look Up, but fictional narratives have their greatest impact in the aggregate, through repetition of common settings, themes, and actions. Is the film industry as a whole helping us face and respond to the climate crisis—or avoid it? To answer this question, I worked with five current and former students to apply a communication studies methodology to the 250 most popular films of the last decade (2013 to 2022), identifying the presence of climate change in a film’s story world; climate awareness; scenes with climate mentions; common climate impacts; and climate-positive and climate-negative behaviors in each film. The result is “Climate Change On-screen,” a groundbreaking systematic analysis of climate change in popular films, published by the Buck Lab for Climate & Energy at Colby College and Good Energy.

2016

In this article, we take a narrative approach to Swedish media texts regarding farming, forestry, and Sami livelihoods. The main purpose is to illuminate how a master narrative on climate change is shaped, activated, and put into practice in different ways in different settings and contexts. The study discusses the complex interplay between different levels of narratives and the narrative dynamics that influence and shape collective representations of climate change. We discern a narrative level that does not explicitly challenge the master narrative, but operationalizes it in close relation to cultural contexts and specific goals, resulting in what we call conventionalized narratives.

Prepared for the Energy & Environment Program at the Aspen Institute, 2022

This survey establishes the current landscape of climate change content in popular children’s media in the U.S., looks at whether or not content creators are applying recommended approaches for communicating the topic, and identifies opportunities to support the industry in developing appropriately tailored programming for kids. Our survey of popular children’s networks finds that climate change is rarely present in educational programs or shows about wildlife and nature. Similarly, a review of 20 of the most popular family films of 2021 shows a total absence of climate content. Conversations with producers and content creators would help to establish reasons for the lack of coverage and identify areas where more support is needed. Content analysis was performed on nine episodes found with climate change content. The results are promising in that content creators are applying some of the recommended approaches for communicating climate change with children. Additionally, we found that stories about climate change are being told in a variety of ways, suggesting an abundance of opportunities to use kids’ media to engage young people in learning about the issue. The finding of appropriately tailored content for children as young as 4 years old demonstrates that media can engage younger audiences on the issue. However, the finding that foundational climate concepts (e.g. underlying causes) are missing is a concern. Encouraging producers to explore the different types of human activities that contribute to global warming would provide audiences with pathways to think about solutions. The results also show that while some recommended approaches for communicating the topic with children are being applied, others are missing. Providing content creators with guidance and resources would help to ensure that they are able to craft climate content that helps their audiences navigate the issue in a productive way.

Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability

Narratives structure human comprehension, and shape our ability to imagine and achieve transformed futures within the 1.5 degree threshold. Examining tensions between narrative as a communication technique and as a spatial-temporal cognitive structure, this paper brings these different understandings together in a conversation for transformative global change. We suggest that filling the 'information deficit' with improved communication of a single, unifying and global narrative about Earth systems is necessary but insufficient: filling the 'narrative deficit' requires engagement with the protagonists, timelines, and places that provide situated agency in identifying and navigating uncertainty and risk. Transformations to sustainability will require recognizing and engaging multiple, diverse experiences of agency, a process that attention to narrative can help facilitate.

The Routledge Companion to Art and Activism in the Twenty-First Century, 2023

This article explores the pivotal role of artistic and literary imagination in reshaping our understanding of the climate crisis. This essay delves into the intersection of art, science fiction, and climate activism, highlighting how creators employ imaginative narratives to connect climate change with broader social issues such as gender, race, and colonialism. From an intersectional feminist perspective, Bloom showcases the work of activist artists, writers, and filmmakers who fuse scientific facts with science fiction strategies to unveil the social underpinnings of fossil-fuel capitalism. Through their creative expressions, they reframe the climate crisis, offering generative art and literature that expose hidden realities and inspire alternative futures. The essay begins by examining key terms like Anthropocene, Capitalocene, and Chthulucene, which frame the current era defined by unprecedented human-induced environmental change. Bloom then analyzes works such as "The Collapse of Western Civilization" by Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway and videos like "Message from the Future" by Molly Crabtree and Naomi Klein, highlighting how they encourage us to reconsider our collective future. As the climate crisis intertwines with other global challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic and political threats, Bloom concludes that artistic expression and science fiction play crucial roles in addressing these complex issues. Together, these creators envision a future where proactive change is not only possible but essential in combating the climate crisis and its interconnected challenges.

Environmental Communication, 2020

Literary works of fiction about climate change are becoming more common and more popular among critics and readers. While much research has indicated the persuasive effectiveness of narrative storytelling in general, empirical research has not yet tested the effects of reading climate fiction. This paper reports results from the first experimental study to test the immediate and delayed impacts of climate fiction on readers' beliefs and attitudes about climate change. We found that reading climate fiction had small but significant positive effects on several important beliefs and attitudes about global warming-observed immediately after participants read the stories. However, these effects diminished to statistical nonsignificance after a one-month interval. In this paper, we review the relevant literature, present the design and results of this experiment, and discuss implications for future research and practice.