Overview
- Investigates narratives of conflict in four case study examples of cycling promotion texts
- Proposes a new, more positive, way of framing and envisaging cycling and cyclists
- Highlights how studies from other fields often focus on language-related issues in their analyses
Part of the book series: Postdisciplinary Studies in Discourse (PSDS)
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About this book
This book employs a Critical Discourse Studies (CDS) framework to examine cycling mobility, marking a new turn in ecolinguistic discourse analysis. The author focuses specifically on environment-related arguments concerning the promotion of higher levels of cycling, mainly as a means of transport, and investigates the “US vs. “THEM” narratives present in many discourses about road users. Analysing newspaper articles, institutional documents and spoken interviews, the author searches for a positive new discourse that would inspire and encourage cycling as a habitual means of transport, rather than simply exposing ecologically destructive discourse. The book will be of interest to scholars of discourse and ecolinguistics, as well as contributing to the lively debate about how to increase cycling in fields such as sustainability, sociology, transport planning and management.
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Keywords
Table of contents (8 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Reviews
“The books helps us to wield the power of language in order to unlock the potential of the humble bicycle for true transformative change of our mobility system. ... If you work in cycling activism or policy making, the book offers a valuable source of reflection on how you do and can use language. For scholars that study cycling, Caimotto offers valuable tools to study the influence of narratives and discourses in resisting change towards more cycling-oriented policies.” (Urban Cycling Institute, urbancyclinginstitute.com, November 16, 2020) "Read this book if you’d like to know why cycling is not promoted enough, in spite of all the evidence we already have on how beneficial it is. It’s about the language." --Esther Anaya Boig, Imperial College London, UK
"As a transport mode, cycling has many benefits and yet is in many countries bedevilled by stigma and stereotyping. This makes it a fruitful topic for critical discourse analysis, as in this fascinating discussion of documents ranging from European policy papers to newspaper articles on a road traffic collision." --Rachel Aldred, University of Westminster, UK
"As a transport mode, cycling has many benefits and yet is in many countries bedevilled by stigma and stereotyping. This makes it a fruitful topic for critical discourse analysis, as in this fascinating discussion of documents ranging from European policy papers to newspaper articles on a road traffic collision." --Rachel Aldred, University of Westminster, UK
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
M. Cristina Caimotto is Assistant Professor of English Linguistics and Translation at the University of Turin, Italy. Her research interests include political discourse and environmental discourse, with a focus on ideology. She is also a cycling advocate.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Discourses of Cycling, Road Users and Sustainability
Book Subtitle: An Ecolinguistic Investigation
Authors: M. Cristina Caimotto
Series Title: Postdisciplinary Studies in Discourse
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-44026-8
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Social Sciences, Social Sciences (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2020
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-44025-1Published: 08 May 2020
eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-44026-8Published: 07 May 2020
Series ISSN: 2946-5990
Series E-ISSN: 2946-6008
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XV, 146
Number of Illustrations: 2 b/w illustrations, 1 illustrations in colour
Topics: Discourse Analysis, Sustainable Development, Transportation, Knowledge - Discourse, Environmental and Sustainability Education, Sociology of Sport and Leisure