Synecdoche and Battles Over the Meaning of “Fracking”
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21192205 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Robert Duffy (0000-0002-5027-4400, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 16 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 339-351 |
| Publication date | 2022-04-03 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Environmental Communication (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1752-4032 • E-ISSN: 1752-4040 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/17524032.2021.1998178 |
| OpenAlex | W3216972534 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 41 |
In this paper, I undertake a qualitative analysis of promotional materials published by leading players in the fracking controversy within the U.S. to demonstrate how contradictory interpretations of fracking’s impacts came to coexist. I argue that both conclusions – fracking’s safety and fracking’s riskiness – were products not strictly of scientific or technical knowledge, but of the way in which narrative understanding via synecdoche guided interpretation of the science. Through the strategic use of synecdoche, industry attempted to discount most of the problems with the oil/gas drilling process as “unrelated to fracking” and thus make “fracking” appear to be safe. Influential environmental activists, in turn, attempted to alter the term’s meaning to bring these problems back under the umbrella of “fracking.”
Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Linguistics · Metonymy · Narrative · Political science · Public relations · Sociology · Synecdoche · Atmospheric and Environmental Gas Dynamics · Climate Change Communication and Perception · Global Energy and Sustainability Research · Philosophy
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| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,67 |
| Citation span | 2023 - 2025 (3) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 5 |