Imagine, if you will, a nonfiction, academic book about climate ''key words,'' published in say 2020

The Madonna of Global Warming:

a photo caption taken by Yann Quero in France

 

 

 

September 2017 Musings: Imagine, if you will, a nonfiction book published in say, 2020 or so, that will be similar in a way to a book first published in 1976, by Raymond Williams' -- his highly acclaimed Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society which was a collection of lively essays on words that were critical to understanding the modern world. But this new book might have a list of keywords for our new climate with essays that follow each word: for example: climate, truth, power, energy, future, uncertainty, consensus, model, anthropocene, science, climate fiction, cli-fi....

By tracing their etymology and evolution, and grounding them in a wider political and cultural framework, the result could very well be an illuminating account of the central vocabulary of climate debates and climate change issues in the 21st century. I can't wait to read this book.

Who will write it, who will publish it, and when? I have no idea. Just thinking out loud here.

But in those Year 1976 essays, Williams, a renowned cultural critic, demonstrated how these key words took on new meanings and how these changes reflected the political bent and values of our past and current society.

He chose words both essential and intangible--words like ''nature, underprivileged, industry, liberal, violence,'' to name a few -- and, by tracing their etymology and evolution, grounds them in a wider political and cultural framework. The result was an illuminating account of the central vocabulary of ideological debate in English in the modern period.

So imagine, if you will, a book of essays by a climate activist and a linguist, who also uses the theme of key words that are critical to understanding the modern world in terms of global warming and climate change.

I have no idea what the title will be, but I am sure the writer and the editors will choose a title that resonates, and resonates globally.  I can't wait to see it in print. Maybe 12 to 20 essays on these keywords, taken one by one and resulting in an important book for the times we live in.