Speaker
Description
This study investigates diachronic shifts in ecological representations in Vietnamese literary discourse, based on a purposively selected corpus of canonical works produced before and after 1975. Drawing on Systemic Functional Linguistics and ecolinguistic discourse analysis, the paper examines how transitivity patterns, appraisal resources, and metaphorical constructions encode changing human–nature relationships across distinct socio-historical contexts.
The corpus includes pre-1975 wartime texts alongside post-1975 postwar narratives. The analysis reveals a significant ecological reconfiguration. Earlier works predominantly construe nature as an ally, a strategic landscape, and a symbol of collective identity, reflecting an ideologically unified and anthropocentric worldview shaped by wartime conditions. In contrast, post-1975 texts increasingly depict nature as a wounded, degraded, and contested entity, indexing emerging ecological concerns and moral ambiguity in the context of reconstruction and modernization.
The study argues that this shift represents a transition from collectivist anthropocentrism toward a more critical and reflexive ecological consciousness in Vietnamese literature. By situating Vietnamese literary discourse within global ecolinguistic debates, the paper contributes to expanding the field beyond its predominantly Western focus. It also highlights the potential of literary texts in fostering critical ecological awareness in language education.
Keywords: Ecolinguistics, Systemic Functional Linguistics, Vietnamese literary discourse, Ecological ideology, Diachronic analysis
Biography
Dr. Gia Thi Tuyet Nhung is a lecturer at University of Science and Education – The University of Danang, with over 17 years of experience teaching English in Vietnam. She holds a PhD in linguistics, specializing in Systemic Functional Linguistics. Her research interests center on the relationship between language, culture, and ideology, with a particular focus on grammatical metaphor, discourse analysis, and ecological meaning-making in literary and educational contexts.
Dr. Nhung has been actively involved in curriculum development, gifted student training, and the integration of AI and digital tools in language teaching. She has presented her work at national and international conferences and is currently pursuing publications on ecolinguistic approaches to Vietnamese literature and English language education.
Her professional goal is to promote sustainable, critical, and culturally responsive language education in Vietnam and beyond.
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