The Environment as a Medium of Communication: Storytelling, Memory, and Resistance in Post-War El Salvador

Presented by Giada Ferrucci, FIMS Postdoctoral Associate, as part of the FIMS Seminar Series 2025/26.

Attend in person: FNB 4110
Attend online: Zoom link

Abstract: In post-war El Salvador, landscapes speak. Scorched-earth campaigns, deforestation, and river contamination left enduring ecological and social scars, embedding collective memory in land, water, and forests. The Atlas of Environmental Memories treats the environment itself as a medium of communication, where communities interpret, transmit, and act upon these histories through testimonio, oral storytelling, and participatory mapping. Drawing on theories of narrative and ecological media, the project explores how sensory experiences, spatial dynamics, and embodied practices encode meaning in the environment. By documenting these stories, the Atlas reveals how landscapes communicate trauma, resilience, and environmental injustice, while enabling communities to reclaim their histories, assert cultural identity, and mobilize collective action. In doing so, it situates ecological memory at the intersection of media, communication, and environmental justice, highlighting the power of storytelling to connect past, present, and future struggles for survival and care of the land.