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THE CULTURE OF NATURE AND THE RISE OF MODERN ENVIRONMENTALISM: THE VIEW THROUGH GENERAL AUDIENCE MAGAZINES, 1945–1980

The status of nature and environmental issues in mass media has been given attention, but few studies look at commonsense meanings of nature circulating in American culture over a long period of time. Nor has the question of change in the meaning of nature resulting from the rise of modern environmentalism in the 1960s been addressed sufficiently. To address both issues, general audience magazines were examined to uncover trends in the meanings of nature from 1945 through 1980. A qualitative and semiotic approach was used to examine the data. The analysis revealed a predominance of appreciative meanings and little qualitative change despite the rise of environmental struggle midway through the study period. Implications and the relationship of this finding to other relevant cultural research in environmental sociology were discussed.