[Commlist] New book: Emerging Plant Communication in Contemporary Societies: Beyond the Human World

https://www.wiley.com/en-fr/Emerging+Plant+Communication+in+Contemporary+Societies%3A+Beyond+the+Human+World-p-9781836690207


Emerging Plant Communication in Contemporary Societies: Beyond the Human 
World
Natacha Souillard (Editor), Amelie Coulbaut-Lazzarini (Editor), Celine 
Pascual Espuny (Editor)
ISBN: 978-1-836-69020-7, March 2026, Wiley-ISTE, 272 pages
Emerging Plant Communication in Contemporary Societies: Beyond the Human 
World | Wiley

Biodiversity is collapsing. It is increasingly necessary to rethink how 
contemporary societies relate to the living world. This is all the more 
important given that calls for change are still regularly downplayed – 
or even dismissed in the public sphere. The protection of natural 
environments and their inhabitants, both human and nonhuman, too often 
remains subordinate to economic considerations that are deemed to take 
precedence. The plant world occupies a unique place, one that is still 
rarely highlighted, given the many issues involved.

Emerging Plant Communication in Contemporary Societies opens up several 
avenues for reflection, through the prism of communication, to better 
understand the relationships our societies have with the plant world. 
Key topics include the ambivalence in the representation of green 
tourism, forests and heritage mediation of the plant world; encounters 
with emblematic plants; and the understanding of the mechanisms of plant 
communication and how it can shed light on our own communication 
systems. This collective work is an invitation to look beyond the human 
world.

About the Editors

Natacha Souillard is an associate professor at Aix-Marseille University 
(IMSIC), France. Her research focuses on forms of participation, 
mobilization and discourse associated with socio-environmental issues.

Amélie Coulbaut-Lazzarini is an associate professor at Grenoble Alpes 
University (GRESEC), France. Her research focuses on environmental 
mediation and research-creation to help (re)establish links with living 
things.

Céline Pascual Espuny is a professor at Aix-Marseille University 
(IMSIC), France. She works on issues of behavioral change and the 
circulation of environmental issues in the public sphere.

Table of Contents

Introduction xi
Céline PASCUAL ESPUNY, Amélie COULBAUT-LAZZARINI and Natacha SOUILLARD

Part 1. Semiotic Approaches to the Diversity of Forms of Discourse About 
and From the Plant World 1

Chapter 1. Inclusion of the Plant Kingdom in Communication About 
Reforesting: Semiotic Analysis 3
Andrea CATELLANI

1.1. Introduction 3
1.2. Corpus and methodology details 4
1.3. Narrative and axiological aspects: the forest as a primary giver 
and receiver 7
1.4. Discursive aspects: actorialization and temporalization 11
1.5. Overarching rhetorical strategies 14
1.6. Conclusion: making use of the forest in communications 15
1.7. References 17

Chapter 2. Phytosemiotics: Codes, Signs and the Acts of Transformation 21
Nicolas ZENGIARO

2.1. Introduction 21
2.2. Phytosemiotics: self-organization and information exchange 22
2.3. Semiosis as encoding: action potential 25
2.4. The signs of transformation: limitrophy and permeability 32
2.5. Conclusion 37
2.6. References 38

Part 2. Coconstructing a New Relationship with the Living World and 
Environmental Education 43

Chapter 3. "Space to Spare": The Paradoxes of Tourist Communication 45
Erica LIPPERT

3.1. Introduction: the paradoxes of tourist communication 45
3.2. Analyzing tourist communication of influencers on Instagram: a few 
basic points 46
3.3. Romanticized storyliving about nature and the "postcardization" of 
landscapes 51
3.4. Conclusion: paradoxes of (eco)tourism communication 57
3.5. References 59

Chapter 4. Human/Plant Connections in Mid-mountain Regions: From 
Resource to Relatedness? 63
Amélie COULBAUT-LAZZARINI

4.1. Plants and the public sphere 63
4.2. Environmental communication as an anchor point in thinking about 
our place in the world: a shift towards relatedness 65
4.3. Methods and fields 66
4.4. Plants: a crucial component in our relationship with the world 67
4.5. Connections with the plant world: towards reliance? 71
4.6. References 71

Chapter 5. Nature in Abandoned Ruins: A Resource for Environmental 
Education 75
Nathanaël WADBLED

5.1. Introduction: opening our eyes to abandoned ruins 75
5.2. Communication of wild ruins 76
5.3. Capitalizing on a communicational potential 83
5.4. Conclusion: the model of sociology of science and technology as 
ecological communication 89
5.5. References 91

Part 3. Art and Mediation of the Plant World 97

Chapter 6. Representation of Plants in Autochthonous Documentary 
Filmmaking 99
Marine BRUN-FRANZETTI and Natacha CYRULNIK

6.1. From autochthonous subjects to an autochthonous 
"filmmaker–mediators", the voice of women to narrate the experience of 
plants and past colonization 101
6.2. Plants as an indicator of environmental degradation: autochthonous 
struggles and persistence of colonization 104
6.3. A step toward ecological engagement of autochthonous filmmakers 106
6.4. Conclusion 109
6.5. References 110

Chapter 7. Art to Convey Biodiversity: Analysis of an Augmented-reality 
Animated Sculpture 115
Marie-Caroline HEÏD, Sarah LABELLE, Emma LAURENT, Valérie MÉLIANI and 
Eva SANDRI

7.1. State of the art: relationship to the living world and sensitivity 
crisis 116
7.2. Presentation of sculpture 120
7.3. Studying a hybrid mediation system: fields and methodology 124
7.4. Tensions between the artistic, technological and scientific 
dimensions: the main research results 126
7.5. Conclusion 133
7.6. References 133

Part 4. Sensory Aspects and Narratives Surrounding Human–Nonhuman 
Relations 135

Chapter 8. A Few Lessons to Draw from Ayahuasca About the Knowledge of 
Togetherness 137
Philippe HERT

8.1. Introduction 137
8.2. The field study 138
8.3. The three stages of the experience 141
8.4. Dolphins and plants 145
8.5. An encounter with the plant 147
8.6. Epistemic issues: taking account of care 149
8.7. Conclusion 151
8.8. References 152

Chapter 9. Tasting Nature: Transforming the Meaning of Wine-tasting 
Videos on YouTube 155
Pierre BESLAY

9.1. Objectivating the taste of wine 156
9.2. Filming wine-tasting: a video translation of an expert practice 160
9.3. Filming the taste of wine in a different way: is it an 
intransmissible experience? 163
9.4. How to taste "natural" wines 169
9.5. Semiotic analysis of the tasting of natural wines 170
9.6. Conclusion 174
9.7. References 175

Part 5. Plant Communication as a Means of Transforming Organizational 
Communication 179

Chapter 10. Uncertainty in Strategic Environmental Communication 181
Joshua T.L. ANDERSON, Matthew EASTIN and Megan LAMONICA

10.1. Strategic communication to serve environmental goals 183
10.2. Environmental uncertainty in biological systems 184
10.3. Environmental uncertainty in communication systems 187
10.4. Environmental uncertainty for communication strategy 189
10.5. Limitations and considerations for application 193
10.6. Conclusion 195
10.7. References 196

Chapter 11. Biodiversity in Discourse Surrounding CSR: What Narrative 
Framework is Needed to Prevent "Biodiversity-washing" 201
Céline PASCUAL ESPUNY and Catherine LONEUX

11.1. Climate and biodiversity: the recent convergence of two parallel 
narratives 202
11.2. Biodiversity: bringing about a shift in CSR communication and 
avoiding the risk of greenwashing 207
11.3. An immature narrative, calqued from that of climate: analysis of 
the initial relations linking climate and biodiversity 211
11.4. Conclusion 216
11.5. References 216

Conclusion 219
Amélie COULBAUT-LAZZARINI, Natacha SOUILLARD and Céline PASCUAL ESPUNY




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