ABSTRACT
This chapter moves beyond critical discourse analysis to apply positive discourse analysis to ecolinguistics. Positive discourse analysis can help ecolinguists in the search for ‘new stories to live by’—ways of speaking and writing which encourage people to protect the ecosystems that life depends on. The chapter considers traditional discourses from Japan, Native American discourses, inspiring nature writing and alternative economic discourses such as Gross National Happiness. The question is not just whether these discourses can help inspire people to protect the Earth, but what detailed linguistic mechanisms they use to achieve this.
