Environment through Time

Environment through Time: Diachronic Studies in Ecolinguistics is a nuanced and engaging study of the changing way we talk about the environment and why it matters. Drawing on large collections of temporally structured, naturally occurring English language use, this book investigates whether patterns of language and the ways we talk about a variety of ecological keywords such as wilderness, climate change, hurricanes, animals and more have shifted in contemporary discourse. While it is widely recognized that cultural, social, and technological changes influence language use, this book explores how ecological change and our shifting perceptions of the more-than-human world are also reflected in language across time. Through the practical case studies, Poole highlights how the ways we perceive, understand, relate to, and act in relation to the more-than-human world are dynamic, ever evolving, and captured in language use through time. Importantly, the book considers what these changes in language use say about ecological wellbeing in this era of climate crisis. Organized thematically and characterized by a practical corpus-based methodology for exploring language change, this innovative text is an indispensable resource for students and researchers in ecolinguistics, corpus linguistics, and discourse studies.