37.3654, Books: Representation of Plants in Discourse: Bortoluzzi (2026)

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-37-3654. Thu 05 Nov 2026. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 37.3654, Books: Representation of Plants in Discourse: Bortoluzzi (2026)

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Date: 02-Nov-2026
From: Arianne Hill [Arianne.Hill at bloomsbury.com]
Subject: Representation of Plants in Discourse: Bortoluzzi (2026)


Title: Representation of Plants in Discourse
Subtitle: From Neglect to Recognition
Series Title: Bloomsbury Advances in Ecolinguistics
Publication Year: 2026

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
           http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/
Book URL:
https://www.bloomsbury.com/representation-of-plants-in-discourse-9781350505537/

Author(s): Maria Bortoluzzi

Hardback.
9781350505537
£95.00

Abstract:

How do we communicate about plants in diverse socio-cultural contexts?
Which underlying values and beliefs inform the positioning of plants
in texts? Why is it essential to reflect on plant discourse at a time
of climate crisis?
Plants are life-sustaining protagonists on the planet, and their
immense relevance in ecosystems and in our lives cannot be overstated.
Yet, plants tend to be given less consideration than animals because
their organisms are very different from ours, and their movements and
actions are difficult to perceive because of our sensory limitations
and different timeframes. Therefore, plants are often neglected and
backgrounded, or discursively constructed as exploitable resources and
commodities, especially in technological and urbanised social
contexts. This results in discursive representations informed by
de-animating and exploitative beliefs that have negative cascading
impacts on the web of life. Vice versa, respect for all participants
in Earth ecosystems, including plants, can foster ecojustice and
wellbeing for all.
This book analyses how we represent plants in a variety of
socio-cultural and interactional contexts, in verbal and non-verbal
texts. It discusses what these practices reveal about underlying
values, and what impact these representations may have on the web of
life. Since plant discourse has been under-represented in
ecolinguistics so far, this study advocates for a plant turn in
ecolinguistics, ecological discourse studies and ecomultimodality.
Reflecting on how we speak and write about plants means giving
recognition to the photosynthesising beings that sustain life on the
planet.

Linguistic Field(s): Anthropological Linguistics
                     Applied Linguistics
                     Sociolinguistics


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