Towards an Intermedial Ecocriticism

Abstract

The starting point for this chapter is that natural scientific research on the ecological crisis must be communicated by media products to the general public, industries, and policymakers. Such communication takes place via a wide array of different media types, from arts and literature to journalism and politics—media types that are, broadly speaking, the objects of environmental humanities. The problem is that it is very difficult to analyse, discuss, and compare such a diversity of texts or media products (here called ecomedia). This chapter tries to combine the basic ideas of ecocriticism concerning the environmental crisis with the vocabulary and analytical possibilities developed in intermedial studies to perform such a task, resulting in what the author calls intermedial ecocriticism. The chapter sketches out the main theoretical backgrounds of this position and suggests taking an analytical approach. It also compares and discusses two different media products: an online popular science article from CarbonBrief and a Danish novel about climate change.

Throwing Soup at Van Gogh: The Framing of Art in Climate Change Activism by British Mass Media

“…In line with Elleström (2010) and Chrzanowska -Kluczewska (2019), intermediality is regarded as a transgression of boundaries between heterogeneous media types (e.g., a poem and a painting) that facilitates the comparison of their form/forms and content. Whilst the present study is informed by the broad interpretation of intermediality (Chrzanowska -Kluczewska, 2019;Elleström, 2013), its theoretical underpinnings, however, involve a narrow approach towards intermediality, which, in accordance with Bruhn (2020a;2020b), is referred to as intermedial ecocriticism. Following Bruhn (2020aBruhn ( , 2020b, intermediate ecocriticism is operationalised in the study as the relationship between the human and non -human that is manifested by means of a critical analysis of literary and media representations, as well as aesthetic practices in the context of the Anthropocene (Bruhn, 2020a, pp.…”

“…(Geal, 2023, p. 1). It should be noted that in addition to intermediality (Chrzanowska -Kluczewska, 2019;Elleström, 2013), Bruhn's (2020a, 2020b intermedial ecocriticism is informed by a long -standing Anglo -Saxon approach to ecocriticism (Buell, 2001;Heise, 2006;Khan, 2019;Małecki & Woźniak, 2020).…”

“…In the context of intermedial ecocriticism, the construal of transmediality can be emblematised by a research article on climate change, which at some point in time is used as the plot of an environmentally -themed film (Bruhn, 2020a). In accordance with Bruhn (2020b), the boundary crossing between the heterogeneous media in the process of media transformation takes time, thus revealing a temporal perspective (Bruhn, 2020b, p. 123). We may illustrate the latter contention by a 17 th century Dutch canvas that depicts an idyllic pastoral landscape, which, later, was printed as a 20 th century postcard and, currently, published online as a digital image that symbolises eco -friendly sustainability in the news coverage by a 21 st century mass media outlet.…”

“…We may illustrate the latter contention by a 17 th century Dutch canvas that depicts an idyllic pastoral landscape, which, later, was printed as a 20 th century postcard and, currently, published online as a digital image that symbolises eco -friendly sustainability in the news coverage by a 21 st century mass media outlet. Bruhn's (2020aBruhn's ( , 2020b approach towards intermedial ecocriticism and, in particular, his views on media transformation are further explored in the article in the context of food -throwing incidents that are framed by the leading British mass media outlets in their news reports. Prior to doing so, however, the construal of framing needs to be outlined and discussed, since it represents another theoretical and methodological cornerstone of the present study.…”

Towards an Intermedial Theory of Medial Agency: Environing Media

“…However, there is a blind spot in ecocriticism (and Environmental Humanities) regarding seriously including a media studies and/or intermediality perspective to the questions (as discussed in Bruhn and Salmose 2023; Bruhn et al . 2023; Bruhn 2020a, 2020b). Existing work in the Environmental humanities and ecocriticism stresses how an engagement with media or mediation is important for the field and there is work that takes the step away from a monomedia approach (for example in film, or in literature, or other particular art or media types) to a broader approach, where the question of the ecological crisis as media-related is discussed in different media types.…”