Narratives of Sustainability

Interdisciplinary Insights and Ecolinguistic Perspectives

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.13136/2281-4582/2026.i28.1882

Keywords:

Corpus-assisted Discourse Analysis, Critical Discourse Studies, Sustainability, Ecolinguistics

Abstract

Introduction to the Special Issue "Narratives of Sustainability: Interdisciplinary Insights and Ecolinguistic Perspectives"

Sustainability has garnered interdisciplinary attention, spanning multiple fields of research and playing a central role in contemporary international scholarship (Krieg & Toivanen, 2021). However, its meaning and use vary across different discourse communities, making it a complex and often contested concept (Godeman & Michelsen, 2011). In this context, qualitative and quantitative approaches may provide useful tools for identifying linguistic and discursive patterns in sustainability-related communication, allowing researchers to examine how sustainability is framed and negotiated across different domains. By integrating ecolinguistics with corpus-based approaches (Poole, 2017, 2022), scholars can analyze the rhetorical, persuasive, and ideological dimensions of sustainability discourse.

References

Catenaccio, Paola “Ethics and Legitimacy in the Discourse of Agri-biotechnology: A Study in Argumentation.” Anglistica AION 23.1 (2019): 195-216.

Krieg, C. Parker and Reetta Toivanen, edited by. Situating Sustainability: A Handbook of Contexts and Concepts. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press, 2021.

Brüggemann, Michael, Anabela Carvalho, Benedetta Brevini and John Downey. “Still Watching from the Sidelines? The Case for Transformative Environmental Communication Scholarship.” International Journal of Communication 17 (2023): 5039-5052.

United Nations. Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development: Our Common Future (Brundtland Report). 1987.

Godemann, Jasmin and Gerd Michelsen, edited by. Sustainability Communication: Interdisciplinary Perspectives and Theoretical Foundation. Dordrecht: Springer, 2011.

Niceforo, Marina. The Language(s) of Sustainability: A Corpus-Assisted Critical Discourse Study between ESP and Popularisation. Napoli: Paolo Loffredo Editore, 2024.

Higgins, Colin and Brian Coffey. “Improving How Sustainability Reports Drive Change: A Critical Discourse Analysis.” Journal of Cleaner Production 136 (2016): 18-29.

Poole, Robert. Corpus-Assisted Ecolinguistics. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2022.

Poole, Robert. “Ecolinguistics, GIS, and Corpus Linguistics for the Analysis of the Rosemont Copper Mine Debate.” Environmental Communication 12.4 (2018): 525-540.

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Published

2026-09-11

Issue

No. 28 (2026): Narratives of Sustainability: Interdisciplinary Insights and Ecolinguistic Perspectives

Section

Articles: Special Section

License

Copyright (c) 2026 Giuseppe Balirano, Paola Catenaccio, Francesco Nacchia

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