Climate Change Literacy

This Element offers a crucial intervention in the growing field of environmental humanities research on climate change and environmental literacy. It explores how literary reading contributes to climate change communication and responds to recent calls for environmental and related literacies. By analyzing popular climate novels, it demonstrates the role of fiction in fostering a better understanding of and response to climate change.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 75 pages
Publication date: 22 June 2023
Publisher: Cambridge University Press

The significance of this Element lies in its timely intervention within the rapidly expanding field of research in the environmental humanities on climate change and environmental literacy. In stark contrast to the dominant, science-centered literacy debates, which often overlook the unique resources of the humanities, it poses a crucial question: How does literary reading contribute to climate change communication? How does this contribution align with the recent demands for environmental and related literacies? Rather than limiting the function of literature to a mere form of information transfer or its emotional dimension of evoking sympathy, climate change literacy takes a comprehensive approach by reassessing the cognitive, affective, and pedagogic potentials of literary writing. It achieves this by analyzing a selection of popular climate novels and showcasing the role of fiction in fostering a more adequate understanding of and response to climate change.

Moreover, this Element extends beyond mere academic inquiry and aims to engage a broader audience. By making its content accessible through Open Access on Cambridge Core, it ensures that the insights and discussions presented herein reach a wider readership, including students, scholars, policymakers, and the general public. This accessibility promotes dialogue, knowledge sharing, and collective action toward addressing the urgent challenges posed by climate change.

In conclusion, this Element serves as a vital contribution to the field of environmental humanities by exploring the role of literary reading in climate change communication. Through its comprehensive analysis and engagement with popular climate novels, it demonstrates the potential of fiction to shape our understanding, emotions, and actions toward addressing this global crisis. By making its content accessible to a wider audience, it fosters dialogue, knowledge sharing, and collective action toward a more sustainable and resilient future.

Weight: 132g
Dimension: 152 x 229 x 8 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781009341998