Discourses and Contexts of Well-being in the History of English - WBE

Abstract / Presentazione del progetto:

The project aims to trace the roots of the concept of well-being in Late Modern times through a discussion of the discursive means employed in English and Anglo-American texts. By analysing the construction of well-being in a historical sociolinguistic perspective, it will be possible to trace when and how various dimensions of physical, mental and social well-being started creating a ‘discourse of well-being’ beyond basic needs. Moreover, greater awareness of the historical roots of discursive phenomena can help us understand and preserve the cultural and environmental heritage shared among different realities. This project will critically discuss the development of concepts and attitudes to well-being still relevant in a moment of crisis like the present one.

Obiettivi del progetto

The project aims to investigate the roots of discursive practices concerning the pursuit of well-being in a theoretical, descriptive and applied perspective. The theoretical investigation will reformulate the notion of well-being, by considering how it took form in the modern age, and how it was linguistically and discursively negotiated in the British and American speech communities. The descriptive investigation will show how the ideas and practices of well-being were dealt with and it will be analyzed in a synchronic and a diachronic perspective. The genres and text types investigated will include newspapers, educational material, ego documents, scientific texts disseminating and popularising medical issues, and texts concerning leisure activities. The linguistic focus will be on lexical and phraseological choices, textual processes, rhetorical and argumentative structures and communicative strategies.

Durata prevista del progetto:

•  10/2023 - 10/2025

Settori ERC di riferimento:

• SH4_11 Pragmatics, sociolinguistics, linguistic anthropology, discourse analysis

Responsabile / coordinatore scientifico:

• Giovanni Iamartino / PO / Università degli Studi di Milano / giovanni.iamartino(AT)unimi.it

Collaboratori / gruppo di ricerca:

• Christina Samson / PA / Lin/12 /  ORCID:0000-0001-9216-7809. / christina.samson(AT)unifi.it /
  Responsabile UdR FORLILPSI
• Elisabetta Cecconi / RTDB / Lin/12
• Davide Mazzi / PA / Lin/12