Narratives of industrial damage and natural recovery: an ecolinguistic perspective

Abstract In this paper, websites promoting a nature reserve on the South Eastern coast of Sicily, Priolo Saltpans, are analysed from an ecolinguistic and narrative perspective. The heuristic device of proximisation is used, connecting it to more traditional concepts of temporal-spatial deixis. More specifically, the paper investigates narratives of contact between the modernist discourse of industrial development and emergent, eco-friendly discourses. In the descriptions and narratives of these sites, the area is represented as caught between a semi-mythical past and industrial/post-industrial futures, between the complexities of human social organisation and the apparent simplicity of the natural world. From a multimodal angle, and a perspective that gives a rich account of context, the paper deals with contemporary themes familiar to the Anthropocenic discourse such as loss of bio-diversity, pollution and industrial damage, as well as possible pathways to ecological recovery and environmental protection.