Book review: Anaïs Augé,Metaphor and Argumentation in Climate Crisis Discourse

Metaphor and Argumentation in Climate Crisis Discourse, written by Anaïs Augé, offers a comprehensive exploration of metaphor’s role in climate change discourse, examining its influence on shaping perceptions and advancing climate justice. Throughout nine chapters, the book covers a wide range of issues such as industry-led greenwashing, global inequities, specific community impacts, and the interrelation of the climate crisis with other social crises, highlighting the vital role of local voices, especially the Most Affected People and Areas (MAPA). Despite its linguistic focus, Augé’s work presents crucial valuable insights to policy makers, climate activists, sociologists, and all those interested in understanding the complex dynamics of climate change discourse.

In Chapter 1, Augé meticulously introduces the profound role of metaphors in climate crisis communication, drawing from foundational works like Lakoff (1993) [1979] and Musolff (2016, 2020). She skillfully outlines how metaphors influence public perception of environmental issues, emphasizing the argumentative functionality of the ‘green’ metaphor. Further integrating insights from Lakoff and Johnson’s (2003) [1980] conceptual metaphor theory and Musolff’s (2016: 30–31, 41–45) concept of ‘scenarios’, she highlights the cognitive shortcuts provided by metaphors and how these ‘scenarios’ shape the diverse interpretations of climate change discourse. This compelling chapter sets the stage for an insightful exploration of metaphor usage in the broader climate crisis conversation.

Chapter 2 presents a detailed exploration of metaphors’ strategic usage in climate crisis dialogue. Highlighting how electronic corpora and software are instrumental in examining climate-related metaphorical expressions, Augé elaborates on the intentional manipulation of metaphorical source concepts to align with or counter recipients’ cognitive bias. Her case study on the ‘Nature as a Person-Mother’ metaphor effectively demonstrates this. She also underscores how specific metaphors, such as ‘forests and trees as lungs’ and ‘resources as lifeblood’, can be purposefully detailed to argue for the urgency of the climate crisis. By indicating an intention to apply these insights to political debates in later chapters, Augé contributes substantially to our comprehension of metaphors’ argumentative prowess within climate crisis discourse.

In Chapter 3, Augé critically dissects the metaphorical nuances of the 2020 World Economic Forum debates between Greta Thunberg and former President Donald Trump, demonstrating how metaphors can strategically mold audience perceptions and fuel argumentative scenarios. Through an in-depth analysis of the Cathedral metaphor employed by both speakers, she showcases how differing viewpoints are highlighted via metaphor manipulation. Further, she explores the argumentative roles of antagonistic relationships and emotional characteristics within metaphors, as mirrored in Musolff (2019). Augé’s observation of Thunberg’s intentional absence of religious metaphors, despite an apocalyptic speech title, illuminates her adherence to scientific arguments. Aligning with Ly (2013) and Goatly (1997), underscores the role of conventional metaphors in facilitating recipient comprehension, laying a robust groundwork for subsequent discussions (p. 42). This chapter significantly enriches our understanding of metaphors’ argumentative potency in climate crisis discourse.

Chapter 4 of Augé’s work delineates three crucial research realms within the overarching climate discourse, namely, the argumentative impact of metaphors in articulating climate change perspectives, their role in shaping global and local views on ‘climate justice’, and their adaptability in depicting the social dimension of the climate crisis. The study’s strength lies in the comprehensive, mixed-source corpus (1984–2022) that encapsulates the temporal evolution of metaphorical conceptualizations. Punctuates her methodology with a brief analysis of ‘carbon capture,’ a metaphorical concept that is discussed in politics and emphasized in reports by the European Commission. This analysis showcased the pragmatics of her approach. Although the chapter’s academic rigor is evidenced by its detailed methodological considerations, its strategic conclusion establishes the pathway to ensuing discussions on metaphors promoting climate change optimism, effectively serving as a pivotal link between metaphor theory and its pragmatic investigation.

In Chapter 5, Augé deftly examines metaphors’ intricate role in generating optimism within climate discourse, scrutinizing the metaphorical framing of international climate agreements and political stances. She connects the urgency of the current Ukrainian war with climate discourse, thereby highlighting the complexities of nuclear power as a climate change solution. Augé’s dissection of ‘greenwashing’ exploits in political and marketing arenas, drawing on Pérez-Sobrino (2013) and her earlier work (Augé, 2019), sheds light on how ‘green’ metaphors contribute to misinformation and impede environmental progress. However, she warns of the necessity to critically evaluate the excessive optimism present in such discourses due to scientific uncertainties. This chapter amplifies the understanding of climate crisis discourse by emphasizing the convergence of global events, political maneuvering, and advertising in shaping public climate crisis perceptions.

Chapter 6 dives into the rhetoric of environmental pessimism, with Augé revealing the significant role of metaphors in activist communication and their influence on creating an ‘alarmist’ view of the climate crisis (Küppers, 2022; Risbey, 2008). Particularly notable is Augé’s examination of skeptical media’s critique of activist arguments and their strategic use of metaphors to distort and misquote activist and scientific claims, primarily via right-wing media outlets. Augé (2022) contends that although activist statements can be disputed, skeptical journalists often overlook the nuanced, solution-oriented facets of their discourse (p. 99). The chapter also assesses how scientists employ metaphors to balance highlighting environmental risks and circumventing ideological debates. This detailed exploration of metaphors’ role in informing, distorting, and exaggerating environmental debates significantly enriches the understanding of the rhetorical aspects of climate crisis discourse.

In Chapter 7, Augé examines the concept of climate justice and its myriad implications, dissecting how ‘green rhetoric’ (Ihlen, 2009) employed by industries and the metaphor ‘Earth as a Greenhouse’ contribute to the spread of injustice. The author suggests that these metaphorical representations allow leaders from the ‘Global North’ to evade national responsibilities, leading to disputes and hindering effective climate solutions (Augé, 2022a; Nerlich and Hellsten, 2014). The chapter also scrutinizes how environmental activists use metaphors to underscore the ‘ecocide’ perpetrated by so-called ‘eco-terrorists’. Augé’s deep dive into climate justice’s metaphorical framework significantly enriches the broader environmental discourse, shedding light on the socio-political implications of climate crisis discourse.

Chapter 8 sees Augé traversing through the discourses of the Most Affected People and Areas (MAPA), highlighting their use of metaphors to express unique experiences and perspectives within the climate crisis. She places her analysis in the context of UN conferences, revealing how MAPA communities challenge the Global North’s environmental conceptualizations, promote indigenous cultures, and emphasize the severe outcomes of climate inaction. Her exploration of the cultural richness embedded in their metaphors, from local proverbs to personal narratives, illuminates the significance of cultural specificity in climate crisis understanding and action. Although the chapter’s focus on English discourses could be broader, given the global and linguistically diverse nature of the crisis, it nonetheless significantly enhances our understanding of marginalized voices in mainstream climate discourse.

In Chapter 9, Augé navigates the complex intersection of social and climate crises, providing a nuanced examination of the metaphorical constructs that depict these intertwined issues. Her analysis uncovers the potential for metaphorical expressions to propagate misleading representations of social crises, contributing to community marginalization by dehumanizing and objectifying them. Examples include the ‘violation’ metaphor distorting the understanding of women’s rights issues and the metaphorical portrayal of environmental racism as an ‘invasion’, accentuating the Global North’s detrimental role in the Global South’s climate predicament. Despite the lack of extensive exploration of counter-narratives to these potentially harmful metaphors, the chapter significantly expands our understanding of how metaphors influence the conceptualization of climate and social crises in discourse analysis.

In the overarching discourse of environmental communication, this book presents a comprehensive exploration of the intricate role of metaphors in shaping narratives and arguments within the climate crisis discourse. Merging the realms of linguistics, pragmatics, semiotics, and climate communication, Augé’s work deepens our understanding of how language influences the perception of complex global phenomena. Additionally, the book emphasizes the importance of including marginalized voices in climate discourse, shedding light on their injustices and the need for equitable solutions. This focus on social justice enhances our comprehension of the complex dynamics of the climate crisis. With a distinct focus on power dynamics in environmental discourse and their manifestation or challenge through metaphor usage, her book is an invaluable resource for scholars in climate communication and social justice.

As a scholarly resource, Augé’s book will likely prove valuable to a diverse array of readers. For those in communication, linguistics, and related fields, the book’s rigorous examination of metaphor use and argumentation in climate discourse provides an enriching resource that facilitates a deeper understanding of the role of language in shaping global climate narratives. Furthermore, for those employing qualitative, discourse-analytical approaches, the book provides a robust methodology that could inspire and guide similar research endeavors. The diversity of case studies presented by Augé – encompassing political, activist, and local community discourses – enhances the text’s applicability across various fields and ensures its relevance in the context of the increasingly global and multi-faceted discussion of climate change. Overall, Augé’s work is an invaluable contribution to the ongoing academic discourse surrounding climate change and the communicative strategies employed to understand and address it.