Sustainable Green Future from a Multimodal Positive Discourse Analysis Perspective: Investigating Environmental Metaphors in Some Selected Cartoons

Abstract

A substantial body of research pertaining to ecological issues has significantly centered its attention on laying out the deleterious, harmful and destructive consequences stemming from human actions upon the environment. This emphasis often revolves around negative metaphors that evoke fear, threats, and danger, leaving the positive aspects of green and sustainable future relatively unexplored. This paper adopts a Multimodal Positive Discourse Analysis (MPDA) approach to scrutinize visual socio-cognitive metaphors presented in 11 environmental cartoons disseminated by the Indian Council of Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) on diverse ecological issues. The study aligns with Forceivelle's (1996 & 2009) theory of multimodal metaphor and Hart's (2008) model of critical metaphor analysis in the light of Martin's (2004) Positive Discourse Analysis (PDA) theoretical framework. Therefore, emphasizing the significance of visual metaphor in the formulation of new and positive eco-friendly scenarios through the process of projection and integration across two distinct input spaces. The results of the study show that positive scenarios such as hope, success, aspiration, ambition, and optimism have been motivated in the generic space, providing an antithesis to the predominant negative scenarios characterized by stereotypes of eco threat, harm, insecurity, and instability.