Ecolinguistics: Language, Ecology and the Stories We Live By

219 Pages·2015·3.849 MB·

by  Arran Stibbe

ECOLINGUISTICS
The increasingly rapid destruction of the ecological systems that support life is
calling into question some of the fundamental stories that we live by: stories of
unlimited economic growth, of consumerism, progress, individualism, success and
the human domination of nature.
Ecolinguistics shows how linguistic analysis can help reveal the stories we live by,
open them up to question, and contribute to the search for new stories. Bringing
together the latest ecolinguistic studies with new theoretical insights and practical
analyses, this book charts a new course for ecolinguistics as an engaged form of
critical inquiry. Featuring:
(cid:1) a framework for understanding the theory of ecolinguistics and applying it
practically in real life
(cid:1) exploration of diverse topics from consumerism in lifestyle magazines to Japanese
naturehaiku
(cid:1) a comprehensive glossary giving concise descriptions of the linguistic terms used
in the book
(cid:1) discourse analysis of a wide range of texts including newspapers, magazines,
advertisements, films, non-fiction books and visual images.
This is essential reading for undergraduates, postgraduates and researchers working
in the areas of Discourse Analysis and Language and Ecology, as well as anyone
interested in the search for new stories to live by.
Arran Stibbe is a Reader in Ecological Linguistics at the University of Glouces-
tershire where he teaches ecolinguistics, discourse analysis, ethics and language, and
communication for leadership.
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ECOLINGUISTICS
Language, Ecology and the Stories
We Live By
Arran Stibbe
Routledge RRoouuttleleddggee
RoutledgReoutledge
Firstpublished2015
byRoutledge
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pagescm
1.Ecolinguistics.I.Title.
P39.5.S752015
306.44–dc23
2014038015
ISBN:978-0-415-83781-1(hbk)
ISBN:978-0-415-83783-5(pbk)
ISBN:978-1-315-71807-1(ebk)
TypesetinBembo
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgements vii
1 Introduction 1
The stories we live by 3
The ‘eco’ of ecolinguistics 6
The ‘linguistics’ of ecolinguistics 9
Ecosophy 10
The ecosophy of this book 13
2 Ideologies and discourse 22
The discourse of neoclassical economics 35
3 Frames and framing 46
The framing of development 54
4 Metaphors 63
The CORPORATIONISAPERSON metaphor 75
5 Evaluations and appraisal patterns 83
Appraisal and the weather 96
6 Identities 105
Identity, gender and the body in Men’s Health magazine 118
vi Contents
7 Convictions and facticity patterns 127
Facticity in the climate change countermovement 138
8 Erasure 145
Erasure in the language of ecosystem assessment 155
9 Salience and re-minding 161
Salience in New Nature Writing 174
10 Conclusion 183
Theory 184
Criticisms 188
The gathering 192
Appendix: Sources of data 194
Glossary 200
Index 208
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to express my gratitude to the School of Humanities at the University
of Gloucestershire for specific support while writing this book, as well as general
support for ecolinguistics over many years. I am grateful to my students, who year
after year have asked questions, analysed original data, made insightful observations
and contributed to the development of ecolinguistics. I am also grateful to Chloe
Phillips and Evan Lewis for their helpful comments on the draft manuscript.
I would like to express my appreciation to the International Network for
Bamboo and Rattan for permission to include Figure 2.1, to Seiko Harada for
Figure 3.1, to Trengayor Wood Works for Figure 3.2, Berrett-Koehler publishers
for Figure 4.1, Mark Achbar for Figure 4.2, the Centre for Bhutan Studies and
GNH (gross national happiness) research for Figure 5.3, to Compassion in World
Farming for images shown in Figures 9.1 to 9.7, and to Sort of Books for Figure
9.8. I am particularly grateful to Daisy Livingston from Compassion in World
Farming for her help in obtaining the animal images.
Some sections of this book have drawn from, updated, and adapted, extracts
from material which has been previously published. I would like to express thanks
to thepublishers of this material for grantingpermission to useit. Chapters1 and 2
have drawn from Stibbe, A. 2014 An ecolinguistic approach to critical discourse
studies, Critical Discourse Studies 11(1): 117–28. Chapter 2 has also drawn briefly
from Stibbe, A. 2009 Advertising awareness, in A. Stibbe (ed.) The handbook of
sustainability literacy, Dartington: Green Books. Chapter 3 has drawn from Stibbe,
A. 2015 Reframing development narratives: the changing frames of caring for the
world and its people, in F. Zunino and A. Fill (eds) Talking about nature and culture,
Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Chapter 4 has made use of extracts
from Stibbe, A. 2014 The corporation as person and psychopath: multimodal
metaphor, rhetoric and resistance, Critical Approaches to Discourse Analysis Across
Disciplines 6(2): 114–36. Chapter 8 has drawn from Stibbe, A. 2014 Ecolinguistics
viii Acknowledgements
and erasure, in C. Hart and P. Cap (eds) Contemporary critical discourse studies,
London: Bloomsbury.
Finally I must say thank you to my family – Ryoko, Sen and Kaya – for their
incredible support, and most particularly to Shirl for helping me sort out a wide
range of problematic issues and improve the draft manuscript.
1
INTRODUCTION
Stories are the secret reservoir of values: change the stories that individuals or
nations livebyandyouchange theindividualsandnations themselves.
(BenOkri1996:21)
Stories bear tremendous creative power. Through them we coordinate human
activity, focus attention and intention, define roles, identify what is important and
evenwhatisreal.
(Charles Eisenstein2011:2)
When first encountered, ecolinguistics is sometimes met with bafflement. It is
aboutecology,anditisaboutlanguage,butthesetwoinitiallyappeartobeentirely
separate areas of life. A cursory explanation is that language influences how we
think about the world. The language of advertising can encourage us to desire
unnecessary and environmentally damaging products, while nature writing can
inspire respect for the natural world. How we think has an influence on how we
act,solanguagecaninspireustodestroyorprotecttheecosystemsthatlifedepends
on.Ecolinguistics,then,isaboutcritiquingformsoflanguagethatcontributeto eco-
logical destruction, and aiding in the search for new forms of language that inspire
people to protect the natural world. This is a superficial explanation but at least
startstocreateconnectionsinpeople’smindsbetweentwoareasoflife–languageand
ecology – that are not so separate after all.
Ecolinguistics is very much more than this though. First, there are a number of
differentapproacheswithverydifferentaims,goalsandmethodologies.Second,the
analysisgoesfardeeperthancommentingonindividualtextssuchasadvertisements
or nature books. Ecolinguistics can explore the more general patterns of language
thatinfluencehowpeopleboththinkabout,andtreat,theworld.Itcaninvestigate
thestoriesweliveby–mentalmodelsthatinfluencebehaviourandlieattheheartof