Robert Poole: Corpus-assisted ecolinguistics

Corpus- a ssisted e colinguistics, written by Robert Poole, and part of the Bloomsbury Advances in Ecolinguistics series, is a timely contribution to the growing field of ecolinguistics and bridges the gap between ecolinguistics and corpus-assisted discourse studies. The book links theory and practice by providing a comprehensive guide along with case studies on how to apply principles and techniques from corpus linguistics to ecolinguistic research. It addresses key concepts and questions for researchers new to the field (new to either ecolinguistics or corpus-assisted discourse studies), highlighting the urgent need to expand the scope of ecolinguistic studies. In seven chapters, the book effectively applies corpus linguistics tools to a wide range of environmental discourses, making a major contribution to the advancement of ecolinguistics.

To begin with, the book features a preface that is helpful reading for readers before delving into the study. It introduces the book’s argument for expanding ecolinguistic analysis beyond overt environmental discourse – i.e. “greenspeak” (see Harré et al. 1998) – to also include interrogation of everyday language and communication practices that reproduce and perpetuate environmentally harmful ideologies. The author contextualizes his project amidst the worsening climate crisis and biodiversity loss, arguing that transformational change is urgently needed. However, the predominant focus of ecolinguistics on greenspeak alone is limited, as the language of popular discourse covertly manufactures attitudes and normalizes ecologically damaging systems. Thus, the book advocates applying techniques from corpus-assisted discourse studies (CADS) to pursue a “deeper” ecolinguistic analysis of discourses not directly about environmental issues, but that nonetheless contribute to ecological degradation.

Before outlining the book’s framework, the author discloses his positionality through articulating an “ecosophy” (ecological philosophy) – i.e. an ethical framework that reflects personal values, beliefs, and a commitment to ethical engagement with environmental issues. Poole emphasizes the impossibility of complete impartiality, asserting that as citizens and scholars, individual backgrounds, experiences and values inevitably shape perspectives on the ecological issues. Defined as an ethical framework in ecolinguistics, an ecosophy functions as a guiding reference for researchers, offering a lens through which to interpret and evaluate discourses (see Stibbe 2015, 2021, among others). The author advocates for the common practice of articulating one’s ecosophy, underscoring its role in shaping not only personal identity but also the ethical and moral criteria for assessing language use. Following this practice, the author delineates the pillars of his ecosophy, revealing a commitment to well-being, justice, awakening and transformation, compassion, and sustainability. In summary, this transparent articulation of values contributes to a nuanced and reflexive approach to the study of language and its role in the ecological crisis.

Chapter 1, “An Introduction to Ecolinguistics and Corpus-Assisted Discourse Study”, introduces several key concepts and frameworks that inform the book’s approach to analyzing ecological discourse using corpus linguistics techniques. The author first defines ecolinguistics as a field that explores how language mediates and shapes human relationships with the physical environment and nonhuman species. A brief history traces influences from Alexander von Humboldt’s holistic view of nature to modern discourse-analytic approaches. Corpus linguistics is then outlined as the study of language through large, authentic collections of texts. Its core principles of size, careful compilation, authenticity, and annotation are highlighted. The author then makes a case for combining corpus linguistics with discourse analysis, arguing that this allows identification of patterns in authentic language use that reveal covert ideologies and “commonsense assumptions” (Fairclough 1989). The methodological openness of critical discourse studies (CDS) is noted as compatible with corpus techniques. Ecolinguistics is positioned as a form of critical discourse analysis (CDA) focused specifically on language practices that normalize ecological destruction or promote sustainability. The complementarity of qualitative interpretation and quantitative techniques in corpus-assisted discourse studies is emphasized. Overall, this chapter effectively establishes the rationale for the book’s corpus-assisted approach to analyzing ecological discourse from an ecolinguistic perspective. Key concepts are explained for readers unfamiliar with these fields, and connections between the traditions of corpus linguistics, CDA, and ecolinguistics are convincingly made. The concluding summary helps reinforce the core elements that will define the book’s contribution to scholarship. As an opening chapter, it provides helpful grounding in the theoretical and methodological foundations underlying the book’s aims and also serves well as an introductory overview framing the book’s synthesis of these multiple frameworks.

Chapter 2, “Corpus-Assisted Ecolinguistics”, provides a comprehensive review of existing research integrating corpus linguistics techniques with ecolinguistic frameworks and goals. The chapter surveys studies analyzing climate crisis discourse, representations of nonhuman animals, political/corporate environmental discourse, eco-relevant keywords, disasters/crises, and place. Climate crisis communication has been frequently studied through corpus methods, with research comparing national media coverage, blogs, institutional reports, and religious versus scientific texts. Key techniques include collocation, concordance, semantic tag, and keyword analysis. Studies of nonhuman animal representations often critique pronoun use and verbs ascribing agency. Diachronic analyses reveal shifting cultural relationships with other species. Research on corporate greenwashing examines diffused accountability, euphemisms, and self-positioning as environmental stewards. Analysis of political discourse has focused on State of the Union addresses and greenwashing. Other studies have explored eco-keywords like “green” and “sustainability”, disasters like hurricanes, and representations of place. The chapter then argues for expanding the scope of corpus-assisted ecolinguistics beyond explicit ecological discourse to instead apply an ecolinguistic lens more broadly. It asserts the potential for corpus methods to reveal environmentally harmful or beneficial language patterns and “stories we live by” (Stibbe 2015, 2021). The subsequent case studies laid out in the following chapters aim to demonstrate this expanded “ecological analysis of discourse” approach. Overall, the chapter provides a valuable review of the current state of research in corpus-assisted ecolinguistics. It highlights key studies, recurring foci, frequent techniques, and common discourses analyzed. In doing so, it makes a compelling case for widening the scope of the field to enable critical analysis of ecological stories embedded throughout language.

Chapter 3, “A Corpus-Assisted Diachronic Analysis of Representations of Wilderness”, as its title reveals, presents a diachronic corpus-assisted analysis of the evolving evaluations of “wilderness” in American English from 1810 to 2010. It argues diachronic CADS can reveal shifting attitudes and unsettle assumptions about language representing an objective reality. Adjective collocates with “wilderness” are analyzed in the Google Books Corpus and Corpus of Historical American English (COHA) using collocation analysis and Kendall’s Tau correlation coefficient. Based on the findings, in the 19th century, “wilderness” collocates like “vast” and “great” convey awe and wonder, but there are also negative collocates like “dreary”, “desolate”, and “savage” representing fear. After 1950, “national”, “federal”, and “designated” reflect legal protections while “pristine”, “true”, and “empty” romanticize wilderness as untouched by humans. Declines are seen in negative adjectives like “dreary” and “barren”. The analysis empirically demonstrates shifting evaluations, reflecting changing human–nature relationships. Designations are argued to potentially fracture humans from nature not officially labeled “wilderness”. Diachronic CADS is asserted as valuable for challenging assumptions in language and revealing traces of ecological awareness. Expanding the approach to other eco-keywords is suggested. On the whole, the chapter makes a cogent methodological contribution in operationalizing collocation analysis, evaluation frameworks, and Kendall’s Tau correlations for diachronic ecolinguistic study. It effectively highlights the potential of this quantitative approach combined with qualitative interpretation to reveal stories toward nature over time.

Chapter 4, titled “Corpus-Assisted Ecolinguistics for Literary Texts: A Keyness Analysis of Richard Powers’ The overstory”, presents a corpus-assisted ecolinguistic analysis of Richard Powers’ novel The o verstory, arguing for the value of studying environmental fiction and promoting beneficial ecological discourses. After reviewing environmental writing genres and introducing corpus stylistics, a specialized 179k word corpus of this novel is compiled and compared to a fiction reference corpus using keyness analysis. The results reveal the novel’s salient lexicon of trees, forests, and nature, construed through dynamic verbs as animate characters rather than passive backdrops. Concordance analysis shows trees constructed as emotive, agentive, interconnected, and intrinsically valuable, subverting tendencies to commodify nature. This discourse divergence from common language patterns cultivates interconnectedness between humans and nature, benefiting ecological consciousness. In fact, the analysis demonstrates integrating corpus-assisted methods with an ecolinguistic framework to identify beneficial discourses in literature. It highlights corpus techniques like keyness, concordance, and collocation analysis for studying characterization and ideological representations. Examining narratives that shape environmental attitudes is asserted as a valuable direction for expanded corpus-assisted ecolinguistics. The chapter compellingly argues that environmental fiction contains stories-we-live-by which may positively or negatively shape ecological thinking. It makes a methodological contribution in applying CADS techniques to literary texts through this case study. The analysis also effectively highlights the potential for continued identification and promotion of pro-environmental discourses in literature.

In Chapter 5, titled “Roving Beasts and Bolting Bovines: Wordplay in the Reporting of Animal Escapes”, Poole presents a corpus-assisted analysis of wordplay and framing in news articles reporting on animal escapes, arguing these features trivialize suffering. A small 5,000 word corpus of animal escape stories is compiled and analyzed using lexical priming and framing theories. Reference corpora comparisons reveal puns, allusions, and lexical choices framing events humorously, mitigating emotional impact. Puns like “mooving” and “steaked its claim” entertain through homonymy and bisociation. Referring to animals as “rogue”, “crafty”, and “beasts” negatively frames them. Phrases like “remains at large” and “taken into custody” impose criminal justice frames, positioning animals as criminals and, thus, legitimizing outcomes. Such stories generally construe events as comedy, not tragedy. An alternative discourse recognizing animal sentience and right to life is noted as beneficial. Indeed, the analysis critiques the incongruence between reality and language obscuring animal suffering. It argues that puns and imported frames construct escaped animals as criminals and entertainment. This illustrates how a corpus-assisted approach drawing on priming and framing theories can be valuable even with a limited, specialized corpus. Overall, the chapter compellingly reveals problematic media discourses on animal issues.

Chapter 6, “Geographical Text Analysis for Corpus-Assisted Ecolinguistics”, presents a geographical text analysis integrating corpus linguistics and geographical information systems (GIS) to explore representations of place in ecological discourses. It argues that place references are not arbitrary but rather index attitudes and mediate relationships with the environment. Mentions of places are mapped in corpora about controversial mining projects, conservation efforts, and iconic natural sites. Following an overview of GIS, geographical text analysis, and place in ecolinguistics, specialized corpora of relevant texts are compiled. Place names are extracted using corpus techniques and then geocoded with latitude/longitude coordinates. Concordance analysis explores semantic themes attached to places like “pristine wilderness” or “area of natural beauty”. Places are rhetorically situated to index positions toward projects. For example, mining corporations situate texts in financial centers while conservationists anchor in local places impacted. Results visualize where and how places are represented while highlighting place naming as a political act. The analysis reveals stories toward the environment mediated through place. In short, the chapter makes a valuable methodological contribution to operationalizing geographical text analysis for corpus-assisted ecolinguistics. It demonstrates the potential of integrating corpus and GIS techniques to map places, meanings, and attitudes. The approach could be extended to additional eco-discourses and place-focused research questions.

The concluding chapter summarizes the key contributions and implications of the book’s corpus-assisted ecolinguistic approach across the case study chapters. The author highlights how each chapter demonstrated applications of corpus linguistics techniques to analyze different ecological discourses, from diachronic analysis of wilderness representations to integrating GIS mapping with CADS. Throughout the studies, the goal was to explore underexamined discourse spaces and apply innovative corpus methods within an ecolinguistic framework. The author thoughtfully reflects on potential future research trajectories building on this work. Suggestions include pursuing diachronic analyses of lexicogrammatical patterns like ergativity, integrating corpus stylistics with spatial analysis, analyzing stories in climate fiction and gaming, and synthesizing approaches from across chapters. Expanding the approach to corpora in other languages and national contexts is noted as an important next step. The recently compiled EcoLexicon English Corpus is also highlighted as a valuable new resource for ecolinguistic research.

In addition to summarizing the book’s contributions, the conclusion compellingly argues for the transformative potential of ecolinguistics research and pedagogy. The author shares a personal narrative of how engaging with ecolinguistics shaped his worldview and actions. This underscores the broader goals of raising ecological awareness and promoting sustainability through language. As a concluding summary, the chapter highlights key ideas and suggests productive future directions building on the book’s methodological contributions. It makes a persuasive case for the value of corpus-assisted ecolinguistics and ends on an inspiring call for engaged scholarship. In brief, this chapter is an effective synthesis of the book’s core arguments and implications.

This book makes several noteworthy contributions to the discourse-analytic strand of ecolinguistics. For one thing, the book is overall written in a clear and easy-to-follow style, which makes it accessible not only for expert readers in the field, but also, to a large extent, for the more novice researchers who might be new to either ecolinguistics or CADS. Secondly, the different chapters of the book provide both theoretical grounding in ecolinguistics and practical guidance on using corpus methods for newcomers. The case studies presented in Chapters 3 through 6 offer practical examples of the application of corpus linguistics tools to a diverse range of environmental discourses, and they effectively showcase the variety of discourse contexts and techniques available within corpus-assisted ecolinguistics. In accordance with a clearly defined ecosophy, the case studies critically analyze problematic ecological discourses and highlight alternative, more ecocentric ones. Thirdly, the book enriches the ecolinguistics literature. While there has been a growing body of corpus-assisted research in ecolinguistics over the past few years (as reviewed in Chapter 2 of the book and briefly alluded to above), to date there has been no book-length work in the field linking theory and practice, and providing case studies as examples. In this respect, the book makes a novel contribution to ecolinguistics literature.

Although many of the key terms and concepts are defined in relevant parts when first introduced (mainly in the first two chapters), the book would have benefited from having a glossary of technical terms in one place, providing reader-friendly definitions for all the important terms and concepts used in the main text. Given the interdisciplinary nature of the field, this would have been helpful for quick reference and better understanding, especially for less expert readers and those new to the discipline. Another potential downside – one that is also acknowledged by the author – concerns the lack of analyses of corpora from other national contexts. The case studies of corpora presented in different chapters would have benefited from a wider, more international perspective, covering more geographically varied settings and language practices.

On the whole, Corpus- a ssisted e colinguistics is sure a valuable read and a hands-on guide for all those interested in doing ecolinguistics research using corpus tools and techniques. This book makes a compelling argument for the importance of a corpus-assisted approach in advancing ecolinguistics research and applications, and it would serve as a useful reading in a course on ecolinguistics, CDA, and corpus linguistics.