Ecological Stylistics

This book reflects the cutting edge in ecostylistic approaches to nature, the environment and sustainability as represented in contemporary non-literary discourse. Firstly, the book presents the ecolinguistic and stylistic terms and theories applied in this ecostylistic analysis (ecosophy, beneficial, ambivalent and destructive discourses; and foregrounding, point of view, metaphor), and reviews the most recent literature in the field of ecostylistics. Secondly, the book examines the occurrences of five marker words (nature, environment, ecosystem, ecology, sustainability) on the websites of five environmental organisations and agencies (Forestry England, Greenpeace International, National Park Service, Navdanya International, World Wide Fund for Nature). The main research purpose of this study is to identify beneficial discourses in the environet and to investigate the beneficial ecostylistic strategies utilised to produce them. Above all, this book reminds us humans that we do notstand apart from nature: we are a part of it. The book will be of interest to scholars of stylistics, ecolinguistics and ecocriticism, as well as scholars of discourse analysis, environmental communication and environmental humanities.

 “Ecological Stylistics is the first volume to study beneficial discourses about the environment and introduces a new dimension into the study of language and ecology consistent with the theoretical framework and methodology of ecostylistics. It provides a thorough paradigm for the subject area of ecostylistics … . this book discusses the stories we live by focusing on ecocentrism in an interdisciplinary perspective, which will be of interest to linguists, biologists, academic researchers sustainability officers working in environmental agencies and organizations.” (Shimiao Guan, Discourse Communication, Vol. 17(4), 2023)

“The well-structured and thorough analysis in this volume tracks the uses of key ecological terms inrelevant beneficial texts … . This book discusses the stories we live by focusing on ecocentrism in an interdisciplinary perspective, which will be of interest to linguists, biologists, academic researchers and sustainability officers working in environmental agencies and organizations.” (Shimiao Guan, Discourse & Communication, Vol. 17 (4), 2023)

“This book provides an invaluable resource for students and scholars of ecostylistics with different levels of knowledge and expertise in this field. … this book is exemplary … of research that crosses disciplinary boundaries and makes a tangible attempt to reach an audience outside of academia. As such, it has the potential to pave the way for further future collaborations between ecostylisticians on the one hand and ecologists, activists, policy-makers, and scientists interested in the ecological history on the other.” (Monica Turci, Journal of World Languages, Vol. 8 (3), December, 2022)

 

“This book introduces a new dimension into the study of language and ecology. Instead of criticizing the use of language about the ‘environment’, as is done in Ecolinguistics, Daniela Virdis’s book on Ecostylistics shows the positive side of language about Nature. The way the author displays how ‘beneficial discourse’ (including beneficial metaphor) describes Nature is fascinating. It is also remarkable that she does not see Nature and Culture as opposites, but as forming a nexus. Her definition and evaluation of five ‘marker words’ (nature, environment, ecosystem, ecology and sustainability) by using five relevant texts is an outstanding feature of the book.” (--Prof. Alwin Fill, University of Graz, Austria)

“In the growing climate crisis, it is difficult to think of a more important branch of discourse analysis today than stylistic analysis of our evolving ways of talking, writing, and thinking about our environment. Daniela Virdis’s study is timely, meticulous and original. It is a fascinating and probing contribution to contemporary ecostylistics, painstakingly tracking the uses of key ecological terms on the websites of certain equally key environmental agencies — influential shapers of the unfolding public conversation we are all part of, which in turn shapes and reflects our adjusting behaviour and policies. In addition to thorough analysis, there is here a subtle and stimulating argument about the role of ‘beneficial’ discourse strategies in the ‘environet’, which should prompt further reflection and discussion among ecostylistic researchers and ordinary readers alike.” (--Prof. Michael Toolan, University of Birmingham, UK)

Daniela Francesca Virdis is an Associate Professor of English Language and Translation at the University of Cagliari, Italy. She is the author of Serialised Gender: A Linguistic Analysis of Femininities in Contemporary TV Series and Media (2012, awarded the Italian Association of English Studies Book Prize 2013) and a co-editor of Language in Place: Stylistic Perspectives on Landscape, Place and Environment (2021) and of The Stylistics of Landscapes, the Landscapes of Stylistics (2017).