Constructing Planetary Loss: From Eco-Metaphors to Ecological Framings in 21st-Century Cli-Fi Poetry

Abstract

Planetary loss is increasingly represented through literary forms that make environmental degradation emotionally and conceptually accessible. This study examines how eco-metaphors represent planetary loss and contribute to ecological framings in 21st-centruy cli-fi poetry. Drawing on an eco-linguistics perspective, the study scrutinizes ten purposively selected English-language cli-fi poems published between 2016 and 2025. A qualitative textual analysis was employed using the Metaphor Identification Procedure Vrije Universiteit (MIPVU) to identify metaphorically used lexical units, Conceptual Metaphor Theory to group these expressions into conceptual metaphors, and Stibbe’s The Stories We Live By (2021) framework, specifically its framing dimension to interpret their ecological meanings. The analysis identifies recurring metaphors that represent the earth and nature as living beings, planetary loss as bodily injury, illness and death, water as a life system, and climate change as violence, conflict and ecological collapse. These patterns contribute to five dominant ecological framings: catastrophe, mourning, resistance, renewal, and interconnectedness. The analysis further identifies four emergent framings: ecological memory, reciprocity, ecological humility, and ecological alienation. Together, these framings present planetary loss not simply as environmental degradation but as a relational, ethical, and experiential condition that challenges anthropocentric understandings of nature. The study demonstrates how cli-fi poetry uses interconnected metaphorical patterns to construct ecological meanings and foreground more reciprocal relationships between humans and the more-than-human world.

Keywords: Climate Change, Cli-fi poetry, Eco-metaphor, Planetary loss, Ecological framing, Eco-linguistics

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22898444