An Ecocritical Discourse Analysis of Erasure in Cameroon Media Discourse

This research paper investigates the ecologically abusive constructs that are realised and reinforced in the Cameroonian English Language newspaper. Analysis focuses on uncovering and resisting hidden, and overt discursive patterns encoded with ecological erasure. The data comprised thirty-five newspaper articles randomly selected from nine English Language newspaper publishers in Cameroon. The theoretical framework adopted in this research is ecocritical discourse analysis (EcoCDA). The researcher used qualitative and quantitative methods to analyse the articles. Findings revealed that the Cameroonian press used varied language patterns to conceal agents, processes and aftermaths of environmental destruction. Media practitioners, thus, mapped erasing ecosophies in ecologically manipulative discursive forms: nouns, adjectives, the passive voice, manipulative statistics, euphemisms and intertextuality. Ecological abuses uncovered and resisted include deforestation, consumerism and growth, mineral extraction and construction, inter alia. In advocacy for ecological sustainability, it is recommended that media practitioners should make conscious and concrete efforts to promote environmental protection and conservation, and above all, guard against manipulative language forms and stories that activate ecological abuse.