Mitigating Climate Change Through Gikuyu Indigenous Knowledge: An Ecolinguistic Perspective

Abstract

Scientific approaches are necessary but inadequate in climate change mitigation. The paper sought an integrative approach to reverse the impact of climate change through Kikuyu indigenous knowledge as manifested in the stories the community lives by. The rich cultural knowledge which needs to be transmitted is declining due to the effects of socioeconomic modernity. Lack of transmission of this cultural heritage, part of which is language, might lead to deterioration of the environment thus disrupting ecosystems. Speakers use language to interact with their environment, thereby preserving it. Conversely, incompetence in language leads to a decline in biodiversity. The main objective of this paper was to analyse the stories the Kikuyu community lives by from an Eco linguistic perspective. The stories analysed are ideologies, metaphors, framing, narratives, evaluation, salience and erasure. The paper used a narrative literature review methodology and analysed peer-reviewed journal articles. Part of the data was obtained from the mass media and researcher’s knowledge of community’s cultural knowledge. Eco linguistic and Deconstruction theoretical frameworks were used to explain the impact of the stories the community lives by and discuss how eco-destructive narratives can be reconstructed or deconstructed. It was found out that the stories the community lives by were partly responsible for the climate change crisis and the need for integrating scientific and indigenous knowledge was advocated.