Critical discourse analysis and ecology

This chapter discusses the linguistic approaches which investigate how these stories are 'told' through discourse and cognitive structures. The linguistic approaches are illustrated through a critical analysis of the discourse of Native American sayings. The chapter discusses three main approaches to the relationship between language and the ecosystems that life depends on. Three main approaches are discourse approach, the cognitive approach and the final approach. A discourse approach describes how powerful groups in society select clusters of linguistic features which tell particular stories, and aims to expose these stories and resist them if they are seen as encouraging behaviour that harms the ecosystems that life depends on. The cognitive approach is similar, but focuses on particular cognitive structures such as metaphors and framings. The final approach combined the human ecology idea that the fundamental stories told in Western societies contribute to ecological destruction, with cognitive and discursive theories to expose and challenge those stories.