{"title":"Review of Fetzer & Weizman (2019): The Construction of ‘Ordinariness’ across Media Genres","authors":"Wen Li, Fenghui Dai","doi":"10.1075/jlp.23061.li","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.23061.li","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":51676,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Language and Politics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-07-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44054779","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Drawing upon motifs of death, mass extinction, and predictions of chaos and collapse, the UK-based Extinction Rebellion (XR) demarcates itself as a different kind of environmental movement precisely because it “tells the truth” (in XR’s own words) about the climate crisis during a time of supposed false hope, denial, and delusion. In this paper, I analyze – through a critical discourse analysis (CDA) – how XR’s postnatural visions shape (and limit) the movement’s demands and proposals for change. My analysis reveals how XR’s calls for action are guided by a sense of loss and mourning for a future after nature’s end that are embedded with nostalgic undercurrents of a very particular mode of green nationalism. The potential exclusions and limitations of XR’s green nationalism are explored in this paper.
{"title":"“Hope dies – Action begins”","authors":"H. Morris","doi":"10.1075/jlp.22126.mor","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.22126.mor","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Drawing upon motifs of death, mass extinction, and predictions of chaos and collapse, the UK-based Extinction Rebellion (XR) demarcates itself as a different kind of environmental movement precisely because it “tells the truth” (in XR’s own words) about the climate crisis during a time of supposed false hope, denial, and delusion. In this paper, I analyze – through a critical discourse analysis (CDA) – how XR’s postnatural visions shape (and limit) the movement’s demands and proposals for change. My analysis reveals how XR’s calls for action are guided by a sense of loss and mourning for a future after nature’s end that are embedded with nostalgic undercurrents of a very particular mode of green nationalism. The potential exclusions and limitations of XR’s green nationalism are explored in this paper.","PeriodicalId":51676,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Language and Politics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-07-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49308890","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article surveys and reflects upon the influence of anthropomorphism in environmental and sustainability discourses. It summarizes key perspectives on and tensions surrounding anthropomorphizing rhetorics, ultimately arguing that such rhetorics need not be anthropocentric. The article first defines core concepts and terminology, including anthropomorphism and anthropocentrism. It then provides an ideological history of environmental communication’s tension between humanism and more-than-humanism, highlighting the role of communication and symbolism in shaping (or constraining) perspectives and making a case for a middle path of human-oriented (rather than human-centered) appeals, before concluding with recommendations for future work.
{"title":"Anthropomorphism, anthropocentrism, and human-orientation in environmental discourse","authors":"Casey R. Schmitt","doi":"10.1075/jlp.22123.sch","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.22123.sch","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000This article surveys and reflects upon the influence of anthropomorphism in environmental and sustainability discourses. It summarizes key perspectives on and tensions surrounding anthropomorphizing rhetorics, ultimately arguing that such rhetorics need not be anthropocentric. The article first defines core concepts and terminology, including anthropomorphism and anthropocentrism. It then provides an ideological history of environmental communication’s tension between humanism and more-than-humanism, highlighting the role of communication and symbolism in shaping (or constraining) perspectives and making a case for a middle path of human-oriented (rather than human-centered) appeals, before concluding with recommendations for future work.","PeriodicalId":51676,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Language and Politics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-07-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46522066","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Hunter Vaughan, A. Pasek, N. R. Silcox, Nicole Starosielski
Over the past three decades, corporate branding has trended strongly towards environmental conscientiousness and green rhetoric, often heralded under the term “sustainability” – a broad and mutable rhetorical strategy that not only serves industry self-interest but is mobilized by civil society actors as well. This tension is especially apparent in the information communication technologies (ICT) sector. Employing Wittgenstein’s concept of the language-game, this article describes how sustainability has been deployed by tech companies, and how these efforts have also been contested – and strategically mobilized – by activist environmental non-profits and critical scholars seeking to reform tech sector practices. Combining environmental communication, political economy, and discourse analysis, we investigate the conceptualization and communication of sustainability as a discourse within and against the sector.
{"title":"ICT environmentalism and the sustainability game","authors":"Hunter Vaughan, A. Pasek, N. R. Silcox, Nicole Starosielski","doi":"10.1075/jlp.22125.vau","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.22125.vau","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Over the past three decades, corporate branding has trended strongly towards environmental conscientiousness and green rhetoric, often heralded under the term “sustainability” – a broad and mutable rhetorical strategy that not only serves industry self-interest but is mobilized by civil society actors as well. This tension is especially apparent in the information communication technologies (ICT) sector. Employing Wittgenstein’s concept of the language-game, this article describes how sustainability has been deployed by tech companies, and how these efforts have also been contested – and strategically mobilized – by activist environmental non-profits and critical scholars seeking to reform tech sector practices. Combining environmental communication, political economy, and discourse analysis, we investigate the conceptualization and communication of sustainability as a discourse within and against the sector.","PeriodicalId":51676,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Language and Politics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42675296","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In this conceptual paper, we differentiate between political decisions and the conversations where these decisions are discussed and facilitated. We complement existing work on argumentation in political communication by applying Aristotle’s Rhetoric to the study of climate change debate. We show how Aristotle’s principles for ethical and rational political speech work toward audience trust and encourage deliberative debate and decision-making. Our deliberative perspective is supported by a case study analysis of Australia’s parliamentary climate change debate. We resurrect Aristotle’s Rhetoric both as an analytical tool for critical analysis and a potential framework for constructive climate change debate. Following the conceptualisation of parliamentary debate as a conversational space where decision-making processes are facilitated, we introduce Aristotle’s Rhetoric and the concept of ‘rhetorical responsibility’, which is further explored and exemplified in the case study. We conclude with future research questions for discourse and political communication studies.
{"title":"Rhetorical (ir)responsibility in the Australian Parliament","authors":"Simon McLaughlin, F. Weder","doi":"10.1075/jlp.22127.mcl","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.22127.mcl","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 In this conceptual paper, we differentiate between political decisions and the conversations where these decisions\u0000 are discussed and facilitated. We complement existing work on argumentation in political communication by applying Aristotle’s\u0000 Rhetoric to the study of climate change debate. We show how Aristotle’s principles for ethical and rational\u0000 political speech work toward audience trust and encourage deliberative debate and decision-making. Our deliberative perspective is\u0000 supported by a case study analysis of Australia’s parliamentary climate change debate. We resurrect Aristotle’s\u0000 Rhetoric both as an analytical tool for critical analysis and a potential framework for constructive climate\u0000 change debate. Following the conceptualisation of parliamentary debate as a conversational space where decision-making processes\u0000 are facilitated, we introduce Aristotle’s Rhetoric and the concept of ‘rhetorical responsibility’, which is\u0000 further explored and exemplified in the case study. We conclude with future research questions for discourse and political\u0000 communication studies.","PeriodicalId":51676,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Language and Politics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45493441","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Review of Chun (2022): Applied Linguistics and Politics","authors":"Qijun Song","doi":"10.1075/jlp.23060.son","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.23060.son","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":51676,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Language and Politics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42041718","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Addressing climate change requires engaging with the fluid, dynamic, and amorphous narrative of humanature relationships. I view environmental rhetoric as practices of storytelling that structure reality, guide actions, and shape understanding of the environment. Through rhetorical criticism, I analyzed fragments of climate activist discourse related to the narratives’ temporal and spatial scopes. I argue that reimagining the scope of our climate narratives’ temporal (chronos-kairos) and spatial (chora-topos) dimensions are inventional opportunities to motivate climate action toward more sustainable futures.
{"title":"Dimensions of time and space in narratives for climate action","authors":"E. Bloomfield","doi":"10.1075/jlp.22128.blo","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.22128.blo","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Addressing climate change requires engaging with the fluid, dynamic, and amorphous narrative of humanature relationships. I view environmental rhetoric as practices of storytelling that structure reality, guide actions, and shape understanding of the environment. Through rhetorical criticism, I analyzed fragments of climate activist discourse related to the narratives’ temporal and spatial scopes. I argue that reimagining the scope of our climate narratives’ temporal (chronos-kairos) and spatial (chora-topos) dimensions are inventional opportunities to motivate climate action toward more sustainable futures.","PeriodicalId":51676,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Language and Politics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-06-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46185508","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The study examines why certain discourses on gender are more powerful than others in describing intentions for gender inclusion in development projects. A critical discourse analysis was carried out on texts of climate change adaptation projects implemented during 2009–2020 in rural Bangladesh. This article argues that gender is currently not considered enough in climate action and that gender discourses focus primarily on ‘women’s participation, more precisely, ‘women’s presence in poverty reduction and empowerment projects. The discourses reinscribe to the long-established economic priorities of development rather than exploring new dimensions to challenge social norms that define perpetual gender inequalities. This study suggests that greater attention is required to address the gender realities of non-binary categories, ethnic groups, non-poor social classes, and religious minorities to effectively plan and implement adaptation projects to support the diverse needs of vulnerable people.
{"title":"Discourses on gender in climate change adaptation projects of Bangladesh","authors":"D. Dev, Elske van de Fliert","doi":"10.1075/jlp.22121.dev","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.22121.dev","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 The study examines why certain discourses on gender are more powerful than others in describing intentions for\u0000 gender inclusion in development projects. A critical discourse analysis was carried out on texts of climate change adaptation\u0000 projects implemented during 2009–2020 in rural Bangladesh. This article argues that gender is currently not considered enough in\u0000 climate action and that gender discourses focus primarily on ‘women’s participation, more precisely, ‘women’s presence in poverty\u0000 reduction and empowerment projects. The discourses reinscribe to the long-established economic priorities of development rather\u0000 than exploring new dimensions to challenge social norms that define perpetual gender inequalities. This study suggests that\u0000 greater attention is required to address the gender realities of non-binary categories, ethnic groups, non-poor social classes,\u0000 and religious minorities to effectively plan and implement adaptation projects to support the diverse needs of vulnerable\u0000 people.","PeriodicalId":51676,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Language and Politics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-06-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42555779","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
One Country, Two Systems (1C2S) is a framework proposed by China to achieve national unification of territories with different economic and socio-political systems. This study explores the discursive construction of 1C2S in two representative Anglo-American newspapers from January 1984 through March 2020 by taking a topic modeling-assisted critical discourse studies approach. The findings suggest that the foci of coverage change throughout the years, and the reports present an increasingly negative portrayal of 1C2S and growing distrust in its future through the use of a variety of discursive strategies such as predication, intensification, and normalization. In addition to practical concerns of the U.S. and the U.K., these findings are interpreted with regard to the underlying ideological conflicts between socialist China and the two capitalist Western countries. This study also shows the advantage of integrating the topic-modelling approach into discourse studies, especially in terms of diachronic analysis.
{"title":"A topic modeling-assisted diachronic study of “One Country, Two Systems” represented in Anglo-American newspapers","authors":"Fu Chen, Guofeng Wang","doi":"10.1075/jlp.21038.che","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.21038.che","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000One Country, Two Systems (1C2S) is a framework proposed by China to achieve national unification of territories with different economic and socio-political systems. This study explores the discursive construction of 1C2S in two representative Anglo-American newspapers from January 1984 through March 2020 by taking a topic modeling-assisted critical discourse studies approach. The findings suggest that the foci of coverage change throughout the years, and the reports present an increasingly negative portrayal of 1C2S and growing distrust in its future through the use of a variety of discursive strategies such as predication, intensification, and normalization. In addition to practical concerns of the U.S. and the U.K., these findings are interpreted with regard to the underlying ideological conflicts between socialist China and the two capitalist Western countries. This study also shows the advantage of integrating the topic-modelling approach into discourse studies, especially in terms of diachronic analysis.","PeriodicalId":51676,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Language and Politics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-05-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48855139","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
National Identity is a discursively constructed complex entity which can reshape an image of a nation. Even one person powerful enough to be a representative of the whole nation can promote a collective sense of nationality/patriotism and sovereignty of the country in line with social, historical, or most importantly, a versatile geopolitical context. The present study is an illustration of how lexical choices of a particular political figure – the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy – identified by specific corpus linguistic research tools in the discourse, defines and emphasizes a national integrity during the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. Corpus-based Critical Discourse Analysis is applied to investigate how a prominent Ukrainian political figure – Volodymyr Zelenskyy discursively constructs national identity in the context of the 2022 Russia-Ukraine war. The research is based on the linguistic scrutiny of presidential video addresses, which are stored at the official presidential website and transcribed in English.
{"title":"National identity revisited","authors":"N. Guliashvili","doi":"10.1075/jlp.22106.gul","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.22106.gul","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000\u0000 National Identity is a discursively constructed complex entity which can reshape an image of a nation. Even one person powerful enough to be a representative of the whole nation can promote a collective sense of nationality/patriotism and sovereignty of the country in line with social, historical, or most importantly, a versatile geopolitical context. The present study is an illustration of how lexical choices of a particular political figure – the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy – identified by specific corpus linguistic research tools in the discourse, defines and emphasizes a national integrity during the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. Corpus-based Critical Discourse Analysis is applied to investigate how a prominent Ukrainian political figure – Volodymyr Zelenskyy discursively constructs national identity in the context of the 2022 Russia-Ukraine war. The research is based on the linguistic scrutiny of presidential video addresses, which are stored at the official presidential website and transcribed in English.","PeriodicalId":51676,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Language and Politics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-05-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45608443","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}