Climate Trauma and Activism. The Social Media Coverage of Climate Crisis and Its Effects. An Overview

Aureliana Natale

doi:10.6093/2035-8504/10564

Aureliana Natale University of Naples Federico II

DOI: https://doi.org/10.6093/2035-8504/10564

Keywords: climate crisis, climate trauma, social media, psychoterratic states, climate activism

Abstract

The aim of the article is to provide a reflection on the multiple and often opposing effects of climate crisis and trauma from a cultural point of view. In the first part, it will consider climate change and its effects, such as anxiety, depression and pre- and post-traumatic stress disorder. It will then focus on public reactions and the possibility of positive engagement fostered by social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok. It argues that by informing the public about the physical and mental consequences, social media can raise awareness and shape public opinion, inspiring action. Thus, anxiety and activism may emerge as contrasting outcomes of media coverage on climate change. The article provides a reflection on this coexistence and its causes, and speculates on future developments.

Author Biography

Aureliana Natale, University of Naples Federico II

Aureliana Natale is a researcher in English Language and Translation at the University of Naples Federico II. She earned her PhD in 2017 inComparative Literature at the University of Bologna and the University of L’Aquila. In 2015, she was awarded a fellowship from the Cultural Memory Studies Initiative at Ghent University (Belgium), and since 2021, she has been part of an international research group for the project “Children’s rights, climate change, and emotional well-being: equipping young Canadians to thrive in times of crisis”, funded by SSHRC and promoted by CarletonUniversity (Ottawa, Canada). She has published various essays and articles on topics such as studies on melancholy and trauma from the modern tothe contemporary era, studies on performativity and storytelling, studies on the relationship between media and collective imagination, andShakespearean studies. In 2019, she also published the book “Per-formare il trauma. Evoluzioni narrative dai conflitti mondiali al terrorismo” with ESI.