Critical Ecolinguistics Within Singapore, ’The Garden City’

This book offers a critical ecolinguistics case study of an entire city nation, Singapore, and of the stories told about and by it internationally in relation to its efforts of sustainability, response to climate change, and commitment to ecomodernity.

It explores several key questions: How will humans live in urban areas in the decades to come? How will these efforts be impacted by climate change and how will cities adapt? What discourses about nature are present in cities, and how will these discourses influence and impact efforts towards sustainable urban living during climate change?

The methods of the book can also be applied to analyzing the un/sustainability of other urban areas in the world from the perspective of ecolinguistics, better equipping planners of all types with a more nuanced understanding of the role language and discourse plays in shaping human/nature interactions in urban areas during times of rapid climate change.

The authors offer insights into contemporary issues around sustainable urbanism, the role of discourses in conceptualizing and advocating for sustainability, methods on how to apply an ecolinguistical lens to various ’texts’ that constitute a nation city, and an understanding of how various discourses may promote or impede climate resiliency and adaptation.

Todd LeVasseur is Senior Lecturer in the Environmental Studies program at YNUSC, Singapore, where he teaches environmental humanities courses. He is also a Senior Instructor in Environmental and Sustainability Studies at the College of Charleston, USA.