Returning to Our True Nature: A multimodal semiotic study on folkloric nature representations in destination branding
(2026) SKOK11 20261Department of Strategic Communication
- Abstract
- The ongoing environmental crisis is not only one of material proportions, but also symbolically manifested in a severe human-nature divide. Given communication’s constitutive power in shaping understandings of nature, destination branding has been criticised for reproducing anthropocentric representations through commodifying nature. While previous research has demonstrated that folkloric tales may enable more ecocentric understandings of nature, how such elements participate in representing nature within destination branding has remained underexplored. The aim of this study was therefore to broaden the understanding of how nature is represented in destination branding when leveraging on folkloric tales, exploring whether more ecocentric... (More)
- The ongoing environmental crisis is not only one of material proportions, but also symbolically manifested in a severe human-nature divide. Given communication’s constitutive power in shaping understandings of nature, destination branding has been criticised for reproducing anthropocentric representations through commodifying nature. While previous research has demonstrated that folkloric tales may enable more ecocentric understandings of nature, how such elements participate in representing nature within destination branding has remained underexplored. The aim of this study was therefore to broaden the understanding of how nature is represented in destination branding when leveraging on folkloric tales, exploring whether more ecocentric understandings of the human-nature relationship could be made possible. To fulfil this aim, a multimodal semiotic analysis inspired by Barthes was conducted on Visit Sweden’s campaign Spellbound by Sweden, consisting of an audiostory and complementary visual and textual promotional articles. The findings demonstrated that folkloric elements both reproduced and challenged dominant anthropocentric representations of nature through five major myths: (1) Nature as Consumable Resource, (2) Nature as Sublime Beauty, (3) Nature as Alive Entity, (4) Nature as Danger and (5) Nature as Mother. Further, an alternative form of ecocentrism was identified where nature appeared superior to humankind, thereby reversing the hierarchy of the human-nature divide. The study thus contributed to nuancing existing understandings of nature representation in destination branding by illustrating how leveraging on folkloric tales can enable alternative ways of imagining the human-nature relationship. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9230207
- author
- Örn, Maja LU and Algani, Neomi
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- SKOK11 20261
- year
- 2026
- type
- M2 - Bachelor Degree
- subject
- keywords
- representations of nature, folkloric tales, human-nature relationship, ecocentrism, multimodal semiotics, commodification of nature, destination branding
- language
- English
- id
- 9230207
- date added to LUP
- 2026-07-13 11:54:43
- date last changed
- 2026-07-13 11:54:43
@misc{9230207,
abstract = {{The ongoing environmental crisis is not only one of material proportions, but also symbolically manifested in a severe human-nature divide. Given communication’s constitutive power in shaping understandings of nature, destination branding has been criticised for reproducing anthropocentric representations through commodifying nature. While previous research has demonstrated that folkloric tales may enable more ecocentric understandings of nature, how such elements participate in representing nature within destination branding has remained underexplored. The aim of this study was therefore to broaden the understanding of how nature is represented in destination branding when leveraging on folkloric tales, exploring whether more ecocentric understandings of the human-nature relationship could be made possible. To fulfil this aim, a multimodal semiotic analysis inspired by Barthes was conducted on Visit Sweden’s campaign Spellbound by Sweden, consisting of an audiostory and complementary visual and textual promotional articles. The findings demonstrated that folkloric elements both reproduced and challenged dominant anthropocentric representations of nature through five major myths: (1) Nature as Consumable Resource, (2) Nature as Sublime Beauty, (3) Nature as Alive Entity, (4) Nature as Danger and (5) Nature as Mother. Further, an alternative form of ecocentrism was identified where nature appeared superior to humankind, thereby reversing the hierarchy of the human-nature divide. The study thus contributed to nuancing existing understandings of nature representation in destination branding by illustrating how leveraging on folkloric tales can enable alternative ways of imagining the human-nature relationship.}},
author = {{Örn, Maja and Algani, Neomi}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Returning to Our True Nature: A multimodal semiotic study on folkloric nature representations in destination branding}},
year = {{2026}},
}