Cover not available
Article published In:
Pragmatics and Society
Vol. 12:1 (2021) ► pp.6–32

The erasure of nature in the discourse of oil production

An enhanced eco-discourse analysis, Part 1

| Huaqiao University, China
| University of Glasgow, Scotland
| Xiamen University of Technology, China
This two-part article suggests ways in which elements of antagonistic discourses of the environment might be combined in a hybrid, innovative discourse that appeals to a broad section of the public while advocating for more environmentally sustainable practices in industry. It proposes an enhanced Positive Discourse Analysis (PDA) that not only identifies points of fissure in the hegemonic discourse but also seeks points of convergence that can be articulated with in a hybrid, counter-hegemonic discourse that maximizes its potential for uptake while destabilizing the prevailing discourses at precisely the fissure points identified. Part I explores the theoretical grounding for an enhanced PDA, introduces the research method and then, based on Stibbe (2016), makes an eco-discourse analysis of discourses by Shell Oil Company (SOC), with a focus on their discourse semantic patterns, showcasing how hegemonic groups employ discourse strategies to serve their interests and what ecological effects such discourses may produce. In Part II (Chen et al. 2021), a comparative analysis is conducted on the SOC discourses and the Greenpeace discourses. As well as highlighting the points of antagonism between the two discourses, it attempts to seek out points of convergence between progressive positions in the discourses. Part II also explores the potential fissures in the hegemonic order and discusses the design of alternative discourses thereupon. It is argued that an enhanced PDA which focuses on solutions rather than problems and collaboration rather than resistance forms a route for positive and interventionist orientations to discourse that promote social change.
Keywords: ecological discourse analysis (EDA), Positive Discourse analysis (PDA), fissure, uptake, discourse semantics, collaborative discourse, Shell Oil Company
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Eco-discourse analysis: CDA or PDA approach
  • 3.Research methods of eco-discourse analysis
  • 4.Data and methods
    • 4.1Data introduction
    • 4.2Research procedure
  • 5.Analysis and discussion
    • 5.1Keyword analysis of SOC corpus
    • 5.2Discourse semantic analysis of SOC discourse
  • 6.An interim summary
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 2 March 2021
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ps.20034.che
References (45)
References
Adams, Carol J. and Lori Gruen. 2014. Ecofeminism: Feminist Intersections with Other Animals and the Earth. London: Bloomsbury.Google Scholar
Alexander, Richard. 2009. Framing Discourse on the Environment: A Critical Discourse Approach. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Baker, Paul. 2006. Using Corpora in Discourse Analysis. London: Continuum.Google Scholar
Bartlett, Tom. 2012. Hybrid Voices and Collaborative Change: Contextualising Positive Discourse Analysis. New York: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2018. Positive Discourse Analysis. In: The Routledge Handbook of Critical Discourse Studies, John Flowerdew and John E. Richardson (eds), 133–47. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Bednarek, Monika and Helen Caple. 2010. Playing with Environmental Stories in the News – Good or Bad Practice? Discourse & Communication 4(1): 5–31. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Berry, Thomas. 1988. The Dream of the Earth. San Francisco, CA: Sierra Club Books.Google Scholar
Butler, Judith. 1992. Contingent Foundations. In: Feminists Theorize the Political, Judith Butler and Joan Scott (eds), 3–21. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Chouliaraki, Lilie and Norman Fairclough. 1999. Discourse in late modernity: Rethinking Critical Discourse Analysis. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar
Cox, Robert. 2012. Environmental Communication and the Public Sphere. London: Sage.Google Scholar
Devauld, Christopher and Lelia Green. 2010. “Don’t Throw Anything Away!” Greenwashing in Public Relations. In: Proceedings of ANZCA: Media, Democracy and Change. (Australia. Australia and New Zealand Communication Association), 1–12. Canberra: Australia.Google Scholar
Fairclough, Norman. 1992. Discourse and Social Change. Cambridge: Polity press.Google Scholar
Fill, Alwin and Peter Mühlhäusler. 2001. The Ecolinguistics Reader: Language, Ecology, and Environment. London: Continuum.Google Scholar
Fisher, Andy and David Abram. 2013. Radical Ecopsychology: Psychology in the Service of Life. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press.Google Scholar
Glynos, Jason and David Howarth. 2007. Logics of Critical Explanation in Social and Political Theory. London: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Goatly, Andrew. 1996. Green Grammar and Grammatical Metaphor, or Language and the Myth of Power, or Metaphors We Die by. Journal of Pragmatics 25 (4):537–60. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2002. The Representation of Nature on the BBC World Service. Text 22 (1):1–27. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Grundman, Reiner and Ramesh Krishnamurthy. 2010. The Discourse of Climate Change: A Corpus-based Approach. Critical Approaches to Discourse Analysis Across Disciplines 4(2):125–46.Google Scholar
Grundman, Reiner and Mike Scott. 2014. Disputed Climate Science in the Media: Do Countries Matter? Public Understanding of Science 23(2): 220–35. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Haig, Edward. 2001. A Study of the Application of Critical Discourse Analysis to Ecolinguistics and the Teaching of Eco-theory. Studies in Language and Culture 22(2): 205–26.Google Scholar
Halliday, M. A. K. 1990/2001. New Ways of Meaning: The Challenge to Applied Linguistics. In: The Ecolinguistics Reader: Language, Ecology, and Environment, Alwin Fill and Peter Mühlhäusler (eds), 175–202. London: Continuum.Google Scholar
Haugen, Einar Ingvald. 1972. The Ecology of Language. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Hughes, Jessica. 2018. Progressing Positive Discourse Analysis and/ in Critical Discourse Studies: Reconstructing Resistance through Progressive Discourse Analysis. Review of Communication 18 (3): 193–211. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jepson, Paul. 2005. Governance and Accountability of Environmental NGOs Environmental Science & Policy 8 (5): 515–24. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kress, Gunther. 2000. Design and Transformation: New Theories of Meaning. In: Multiliteracies: Literacy Learning and the Design of Social Futures, Bill Cope and Kalantzis (eds), 153–61. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Macgilchrist, Felicitas and Ellen Van Praet. 2013. Writing the History of the Victors? Discourse, Social change and (Radical) Democracy. Journal of Language and Politics 12(4): 626–651. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Macgilchrist, Felicitas. 2016. Fissures in the Discourse-scape: Critique, Rationality and Validity in Post-foundational Approaches to CDS. Discourse & Society 27(3) 262–277. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mühlhäusler, Peter. 2001. Talking about Environmental Issues. In: The Ecolinguistics Reader: Language, Ecology, and Environment, Alwin Fill and Peter Mühlhäusler (eds), 31–42. London: Continuum.Google Scholar
. 2003. Language of Environment, Environment of Language: A Course in Ecolinguistics. London: Battlebridge.Google Scholar
Martin, James R. 2004/2012. Positive Discourse Analysis: Solidarity and Change. In: Collected Works of J.R. Martin, Zhenhua Wang (ed), 278–98. Shanghai: Shanghai Jiao Tong University Press.Google Scholar
1986/2012. Grammaticalizing Ecology: The Politics of Baby Seals and Kangaroos. Collected Works of James R. Martin, Zhenhua Wang (ed), 7–49. Shanghai: Shanghai Jiao Tong University.Google Scholar
2007. Comment. World Englishes 26 (1): 84–6. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Nash, Joshua and Peter Mühlhäusler. 2014. Linking Language and the Environment: The Case of Norf’k and Norfolk Island. Language Sciences 411: 26–33. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Poole, Robert. 2016. A Corpus-Aided Ecological Discourse Analysis of the Rosemont Copper Mine Debate of Arizona, USA. Discourse & Communication 101.576–95. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Robbins, Paul. 2012. Political Ecology: A Critical Introduction. NJ: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Schröter, Melani. 2015. 80,000,000 Hooligans: Discourse of Resistance to Racism and Xenophobia in German Punk Lyrics 1991–1994. Critical Discourse Studies 12 (4): 398–425. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Stevens, Paul. 2012. Towards an Ecosociology. Sociology 46 (4): 579–95. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Stibbe, Arran. 2014. An Ecolinguistic Approach to Critical Discourse Studies. Critical Discourse Studies 11(1):117–28. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2016. Ecolinguistics: Language, Ecology and the Stories We Live by. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
. 2018. Critical Discourse Analysis and Ecology. In: The Routledge Handbook of Critical Discourse Studies, John Flowerdew and John E. Richardson (eds), 497–509. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Van Dijk, Teun A. 1995. Discourse Semantics and Ideology. Discourse & Society 6 (2): 243–89. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2001. Critical Discourse Analysis. In: The Handbook of Discourse Analysis, Deborah Tannen, Deborah Schifrin and Heidi E. Hamilton (eds), 352–71. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
http://www.shell.com
http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/?s=shell
Cited by (8)

Cited by eight other publications

Nervino, Esterina, Joyce Oiwun Cheung & Jiayi Chen
2024. Charting the path of sustainability discourse research: A systematic review of applied linguistic studies. International Journal of Applied Linguistics 34:3 ► pp. 862 ff. DOI logo
Wang, Jiayu & Jinyan Liu
2024. The visual stories in addressing climate change that a petroleum business tells and lives by: A multimodal critical ecolinguistic perspective. Energy Research & Social Science 111 ► pp. 103483 ff. DOI logo
Zollo, Sole Alba
2024. The EU and environmental education: a multimodal ecological discourse analysis. Multimodal Communication 13:2 ► pp. 185 ff. DOI logo
Ain, Quratul, Fasih Ahmed, Shazia Akbar Ghilzai & Muhammad Asim
2023. The erasure of nature becoming the new normal: An ecolinguistic analysis of Food products’ commercial discourse of multinational companies. Cogent Arts & Humanities 10:1 DOI logo
李, 冰雪
2023. A Study on the Transitivity of Energy Security News Reports under the Perspective of Ecolinguistics. Modern Linguistics 11:10 ► pp. 4272 ff. DOI logo
Hampton, Jessica
2022. Telling stories of the local natural world: A path of reconnection with language and place in the Emilian context. Journal of World Languages 8:2 ► pp. 409 ff. DOI logo
Zhang, Ruijie
2022. The year’s work in ecolinguistics 2021. Journal of World Languages 8:1 ► pp. 141 ff. DOI logo
Chen, Wenge, Tom Bartlett & Huiling Peng
2021. Drilling for fissures and exploiting common ground in the discourse of oil production. Pragmatics and Society 12:2 ► pp. 167 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 22 september 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.