Aksaray Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi

Öz

This study examines Audrey Magee’s novel The Colony in order to demonstrate how the theory of ecolinguistics can be discussed through literary texts. Ecolinguistics is an interdisciplinary field that focuses not only on the structural aspects of a language but also on the complex relationships it forms with its socioeconomic, ideological, and cultural environment. This approach, which emerged in the 1970s under the leadership of Einar Haugen, was theoretically expanded with significant contributions from scholars such as Halliday, Fill, and Stibbe. Within this framework, ecolinguistics focuses on areas such as language death, language planning, linguistic conflicts, and multilingualism, analyzing languages within their environmental, cultural, and political contexts. This theory contributes especially to understanding the condition of marginalized, suppressed, or ignored minority languages and to developing protective language policies for them. Within this theoretical context, The Colony makes visible -through a fictional narrative- the position of a language within its social ecosystem, the environmental impact of dominant languages, and the transformations experienced by marginalized ones. At the center of the novel, the linguistic observations of French linguist Jean-Pierre Masson, carried out across four generations, reveal the environmental factors influencing individual language choices. Accordingly, the study emphasizes that linguistic change is not a matter of individual decision-making but a systemic phenomenon shaped by historical, political, and economic dynamics. External factors such as migration, educational policies, class distinctions, and state interventions are shown to be key elements that shape both the function and the social status of a language.

The study’s findings demonstrate that dominant languages function not only as tools of communication but also as instruments of social prestige, economic gain, and cultural belonging. This multifaceted role narrows the domains of use for marginalized languages, erasing them from public spaces and reducing them to symbolic remnants. The solutions proposed by Masson—linguistic isolation, economic incentives, and local investment—indicate that ecolinguistics offers not only diagnostic insight but also an interventionist, transformative, and sustainable framework. Ultimately, this study reveals the capacity of literature to raise awareness and contribute to language policy development within the scope of ecolinguistics.