This edited collection brings together cutting-edge work by prominent academics in the field of ecolinguistics on the theme of language and ecology in an era of climate disaster, bridging multiple domains and disciplines.
At a time of rapid environmental change, understanding the intricacies of how language is used, and when to inform, persuade, or (de)legitimise claims, is a fundamental requirement in the pursuit of societal change and the development of ecoliteracy. This volume assembles a wide range of essays on the most pressing contemporary issues of our time from an ecolinguistic perspective including the ever-worsening catastrophic loss of indigenous languages, the unprecedented global levels of ecoanxiety, and the increasing rates of apocalyptic language and narratives as represented in the mass media and wider political discourses. Case studies include discussions on biblical language in the mass media, voices of activism in radical protest movements, children's stories on climate catastrophe, apocalyptic fiction, the extinction of indigenous languages worldwide, the apocalyptic language used by the European Court of Human Rights, the language used by environmental charities, and the post-apocalyptic narratives of endangered societies.
The works in the collection speak to current events in politics and media, exploring the growing global anxieties and issues surrounding environmental anxiety and apocalyptic narratives. It is a thought-provoking volume that offers rich and varied perspectives in an area that is gaining interest and attraction due to the present plight of human-induced climate crisis.