Becoming buttercups: Fostering eco-empathy through metaphorical creative writing

El Refaie, Elisabeth ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5928-9297 and Thatcher, Christina ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0105-6797 2025. Becoming buttercups: Fostering eco-empathy through metaphorical creative writing. Metaphor and Symbol 40 (2) , pp. 99-113. 10.1080/10926488.2024.2431075

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Abstract

This article critically evaluates the concept of ecological empathy (or “eco-empathy”), reconceptualizing it as creative, embodied thinking that embraces paradoxes between emotion and cognition, body and mind, and the human and non-human. Drawing on cognitive linguistics, social and evolutionary psychology, and phenomenology, we argue that metaphor plays a crucial role in fostering this form of eco-empathy, by bridging emotional and cognitive understanding and facilitating the creation of new conceptual links. These arguments are tested by means of a qualitative case study, involving creative writing workshops, where participants were invited to respond to an eco-art exhibition by projecting themselves imaginatively into one of the exhibited wild plants. The analysis of metaphors used in the resulting poems, and of post-workshop interviews, demonstrated how the creation of novel metaphors led participants to develop a deeper understanding and emotional connection to their chosen plants, as well as encouraging greater engagement with the natural world more generally.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > English, Communication and Philosophy
Publisher:	Taylor and Francis Group
ISSN:	1092-6488
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	14 November 2024
Date of Acceptance:	13 November 2024
Last Modified:	03 Apr 2025 14:13
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/174002

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