Religion and ecolinguistics: Mapping trajectories and opportunities in the field

To date, ecolinguistics has been applied to a range of discourses across several interrelated fields, including religion (Ponton, 2022). However, despite advances in ecotheology and environmental religious studies, the specific nexus of religion, language, and ecology has not been widely examined. This paper explores the interrelated fields of language and ecology and their application to the broader domain of religious discourse. First, it provides an overview of the fields of language, religion, and ecology to highlight their potential for further exploration. Next, it identifies current research trajectories at the intersection of religion and ecolinguistics, as well as the opportunities that exist in an AI-driven world. This is illustrated through the application of ecolinguistic frameworks to a small sample of AI-mediated religious environmental discourse.