Pro-nuclear European discourses: Socio-semiotic observations

Abstract

This article is focused on some recent examples of ‘nuclear discourse’, with a specific reference to the civil use of nuclear power in order to produce energy. The basic aim of this article is dual-fold. From a methodological point of view, I want to show an example of the application of a specific form of semiotic analysis (linked to the ‘continental’ tradition of structural analysis) to contemporary communication forms and supports. In this way, semiotics appears as a specific form of qualitative analysis, aimed at the understanding of meaning production by social actors on the basis of ‘signs’ (significant objects such as paper and electronic texts) that are produced and exchanged. From the point of view of the subject under analysis, I want to present some observations on recent pro-nuclear rhetorical forms, which have emerged in Europe in the last two years, before and after the tragedy of Fukushima. I analyse different types of texts, in particular videos and websites. The analysis of the ‘internal’ organization of texts is combined with attention to the context of their production.