Tensions in talking about disasters: Habitual versus climate-informed – The case of bushfire vocabulary in Australia

Disasters occasion ways of speaking and writing in the societies which they take place. Now, due to climate change, events such as wildfires, floods heatwaves are becoming more severe frequent. Therefore, crisis poses a challenge, not only materially, but discursively. Habitual vocabulary may no longer be appropriate, there is pull between these turns phrase newer ones informed by change. The article takes case Australia whose public discourse English about ‘bushfires’ has been characterized traditional vocabulary, focused on battling elements. Through three examples, study treats tensions habitual climate-informed event names (e.g. Black Summer), social category (volunteer firefighters) construction political critique (I don’t hold hose). frame taken semantically-enhanced studies, inspired natural semantic metalanguage (NSM) other cultural takes. A transtextual approach used, along with research from humanities science. finds that through interplay ‘bushfires’, one can view conceptions events, cultures, relations, identities relationships places Australia. Extreme weather formations change cannot easily separated.