The search for new stories to live by: a positive discourse analysis of Christian Environmentalism & Druidry

Abstract

In the current ecological crisis, there is overwhelming consensus that human activity is damaging the ecosystems that support life. It is therefore important that we not only look at what drastic changes we should make to our daily activities in western society, but challenge the stories told in our world that encourage these activities through speech and text. Critical discourse analysts have applied their work to this endeavour at great length through the lens of Ecolinguistics, but there is still much to be done in finding alternative stories about our relationship with the natural world, that can help to reshape our collective view of the planet and our cohabitants. This thesis then is seeking positive styles of language within the world of Religion, and looks to the discourse of an environmentalist denomination of Christianity, Green Christian, and the discourse of an order of Druids. Collecting text from their blogs, articles, magazines, and ethos pages found online, this thesis uses various tools influenced by previous Ecolinguistic research and the wider field of Critical Discourse Studies. The analysis draws out recurrent themes in language that frames the natural world as interconnected with humans, entitled to the respect and reverence that we afford to ourselves. Deciding what constitutes a ‘positive’ type of story is done by using an Ecosophy. The topics of the text researched include animals, the entirety of the natural world, and human activity on the Earth. The focus is on how the religious perspective of these two groups influence the style of language used and the affect this has on the message the groups convey regarding the human-nature relationship. To conclude, I reflect on some of the limitations in my analysis and offer recommendations for further research that applies positive discourse analysis to a wider body of text.