https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9968-1162
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Abstract
This study focuses on the analysis of Greta Thunberg’s speeches, from the early mobilizations of Friday for Future (Thunberg, Citation2019) to the latest Conference of the Parties in 2022. We explore her use of metaphors, their contribution to the construction of discourse frames and their role in persuasive argumentation. The overall analytical approach is guided by the principles of Positive Discourse Analysis (PDA), and the theoretical and philosophical background of Ecolinguistics. As one of the most significant environmental voices on the current global scene, Thunberg’s underlying ideologies are positively viewed, especially as they are expressed in climate related predictions. The analysis critically and diachronically examines Greta’s linguistic choices, identifying how they contribute to promote a positive perspective that highlights the interconnection between social groups and the natural world. As well as a positive dimension, which recognises the importance of Thunberg’s contribution to modern environmental movements (Bullon-Cassis, Citation2024), the paper critiques her use of these linguistic resources. It is suggested that at least part of her talismanic impact as a speaker relates to a familiar discourse of generational conflict among young audiences, a dimension which her use of framing is found to target.
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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 In the oft-cited words of Jim Martin (Citation1999, pp. 51–52), the positive discourse analyst seeks solace in the study of discourse that ‘inspires, encourages, heartens, discourse we like, that cheers us along’.
2 Speedy Paper: https://speedypaper.com/essays/would-a-border-fence-solve-the-immigration-problem-in-the-united-states, retrieved 18.12.2023.
3 Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskAnAmerican/comments/co27f2/what_do_you_think_about_immigrants_and_immigration/, retrieved 17.12.23.
4 NPR: https://www.npr.org/2019/09/23/763452863/transcript-greta-thunbergs-speech-at-the-u-n-climate-action- summit, retrieved 17.12.23.
5 The data can be checked in the sources cited in the Appendix – Corpus of Greta Thunberg speeches.
6 United Nations, https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/paris-agreement, retrieved 11.01.2024.
7 Space prohibits an extensive treatment of this; briefly, the presumption in a verbal exchange between Speaker (S) and Hearer (H) is that ‘when S uses the pronoun ‘you’ they intend to address H in the first person’. Not to do so would be to flout Grice’s maxim of Relevance. In the case in question, any of Greta’s listeners – whether present in the hall or among the global audience that followed her remarks on YouTube, for example – who DO NOT talk about money and eternal economic growth will be compelled to perform a mental operation of refusal (she can’t mean me). This involves them in a certain cognitive discomfort, which would be completely absent from an utterance whose referee is more specific such as: ‘all bankers and economists can do is talk about money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth’. A listener who is not a banker or an economist will process this statement without difficulty. As we shall see from other examples, the creation of this ambiguity of engagement could be a deliberate rhetorical choice.
8 She is clearly not referring to the UN, since there is no sense in which the UN ‘come to young people for hope’. Greta was not invited to the event because the UN wanted to canvas the views of a random teenager but because she had become a global celebrity who they could hardly ignore.
9 For sources cited, see Appendix – Corpus of Greta Thunberg speeches.
10 Parenthetically we should note that by using the word ‘literally’ in conjunction with a metaphor, the speaker explicitly tells listeners that they should not hear this in a metaphorical sense. In this case Greta departs from her customary stance as the Casssandra warning of dire consequences if necessary steps are not taken; instead she offers a controversial description of the actual state of things, perhaps thereby weakening her argument. As O’Neill (2023) comments, the planet is visibly not yet at ‘boiling’ point.
11 EU Climate Law: https://climate.ec.europa.eu/eu-action/european-climate-law_en#:∼:text=The%20European%20Climate%20Law%20writes,2030%2C%20compared%20to%201990%20levels., retrieved 17/01/2024.
12 As a hero, Greta has been compared with Malala Yusufzai and Nadia Murad, and in the fictional sphere to the figure of Pippi Longstocking, ‘independent, wilful, strong, rebellious and imaginative [.] who dared question authority’ (Coughlin and Hauck Citation2023: 160).
13 For further information see the website: https://www.ipcc.ch/.
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Notes on contributors
Douglas Mark Ponton
Douglas Mark Ponton is Associate Professor of English Language and Translation at the Department of Political and Social Sciences, University of Catania. His research interests include political discourse analysis, ecolinguistics, discourse in interaction, applied linguistics, pragmatics, corpus linguistics and critical discourse studies. He has held teaching and research positions at the universities of Catania, Messina and Pisa. Some recent publications: Understanding Political Persuasion: Linguistic and Rhetorical Analysis (Vernon Press, 2019), Exploring Ecolinguistics: Ecological Principles and Narrative Practices (Bloomsbury, 2024). As well as politics and ecolinguistics, his research deals with social topics such as legal language and crime, the discourse of mediation, migration, cross-cultural politeness and folk traditions.
Anna Raimo
Anna Raimo holds a Master’s degree with honors in “Linguistica e didattica dell’italiano nel contesto internazionale” (2019) from the University of Salerno and the Universität des Saarlandes in Saarbrücken. She subsequently obtained a second-level Master’s degree in “Didattica dell’Italiano L2” (2020) from the University of Naples L’Orientale. Currently, she is pursuing a Ph.D. in “Culture Letterarie e Filologiche” at the University of Bologna under the supervision of Prof. Aldo Gangemi, Prof. Francesca Tomasi (University of Bologna) and Prof. Zuzana Toth (University of Basel). Her doctoral research, titled “Public Discourse Versus Sensor-Based Data About the Relationship Between Human Society and National Environment,” critically examines the discourse on ecological themes in political contexts in Italy and investigates the pedagogical implications for teaching Italian as a second language.