Public Discourses of Dementia

Out now: 'Dementia, Death and Discourse', chapter with @emma-putland.bsky.social in Handbook of Language and Death, ed. by @dgalasinski.bsky.social & Justyna Ziółkowska. See OA pre-print below, and make sure to look up the rest of the volume! @sosslancaster.bsky.social @lancslinguistics.bsky.social

The Bloomsbury Handbook of Language and Death An essential reference to the intersection of language and death and dying, this book presents an overview of the methodologies, current debates, history and fu…

Also, if you're interested in reading more of the chapters in The Bloomsbury Handbook of Language and Death, you can access these here: www.bloomsbury.com/uk/bloomsbur...

Want to read more of the Public Discourses of Dementia team's publications? Check out our publications page here: wp.lancs.ac.uk/public-disco... 📚

Book cover for The Bloomsbury Handbook of Language and Death, edited by Dariusz Galasinski and Justyna Ziólkowska.

Our team, @emma-putland.bsky.social and @gavinbrookes.bsky.social, have a new chapter out!

'Dementia, Death and Discourse' in The Bloomsbury Handbook of Language and Death, ed. by D. Galasinski and J. Ziólkowska.

The chapter pre-print is available #openaccess here: wp.lancs.ac.uk/public-disco...

Out now: 'Critical Discourse Studies and Health Communication'. Chapter in Handbook on Critical Discourse Studies, ed. by B. Forchtner and F. Zappettini. Honoured to publish in this book alongside many whose work has inspired me. Chapter pre-print #openaccess here: wp.lancs.ac.uk/public-disco...

If you’d like to read more publications by our Public Discourses of Dementia team, you can do so here: wp.lancs.ac.uk/public-disco...

Handbook on Critical Discourse Studies ‘Featuring an impressive line-up of contributions, this comprehensive Handbook showcases the diversity, richness and discipline-spanning flexibility of Critical Discourse Studies (CDS). Originally org...

The chapter is part of the 2026 Handbook on Critical Discourse Studies, edited by Bernhard Forchtner and Franco Zappettini. We're honoured to be part of such a fantastic book and highly recommend taking a look at the other contributions: www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/han...

Our team, @gavinbrookes.bsky.social and @emma-putland.bsky.social, have a new chapter with Kevin Harvey!

'What is good care, and who is it good for? A
Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis of UK care
home websites'

Interested? You can read the author copy here wp.lancs.ac.uk/public-disco...

Applications for the free-to-attend 2026 CASS Summer Schools are now open!

Intensive, expert-led training in corpus linguistics. No course fees (travel and accommodation are self-funded) #LancsSS26

Apply via the CASS website: wp.lancs.ac.uk/corpussummer...

Image shows a banner advertising the book, titled Navigating Dementia and Society: Exploring How People Affected by Dementia Negotiate and Reshape Popular Discourses. It is open access as an e-book.

Review: ‘This brilliant, insightful book showcases people with dementia as creators of their own identities. By re-interpreting tired tropes and dehumanising discourses, this work creates space for hope. If we want a better future for dementia care, these are the voices we need to listen to.’ - Cheyann Heap, University of York, UK

Review: ‘Navigating Dementia and Society is a fresh exploration of the experience of dementia that problematises prevailing dichotomous discourses of “tragedy” or “living well”. In her creative multimodal investigation, Emma Putland illuminates the complexity with which individuals affected by dementia engage with media stereotypes. Kudos for this innovative and hopeful study!’ - Heidi E. Hamilton, Georgetown University, USA

Review: ‘This book offers a unique perspective on the way that dementia is described and understood and makes visible the power of language and images in influencing discourse. The author unpacks dementia discourse drawing on the lived experiences of people with dementia – and those closely connected – and challenges us to engage with a much more nuanced set of understandings. She manages to explore the territory in an engaging, thoughtful, intelligent and, at times, amusing way.’ – Alisoun Milne, University of Kent, UK

I'm delighted to share that my book is out and available to read online for free! Thank you to the many people who either participated in my research or supported me to do it 😊

Book page: www.bloomsbury.com/uk/navigatin...

Free online access: www.bloomsburycollections.com/monograph?do...

Image shows the front page of our new article, entitled: “We No Longer Recognized Her as a Human Being”: A Critical Discourse Analysis of AI-Generated Character Descriptions of Men and Women With Dementia. ABSTRACT: Motivated by the gender inequalities observed in relation both to dementia and generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), this article takes a critical discourse analysis approach to explore how gender and dementia intersect in 52 AI-generated character descriptions of men and women with dementia. Using “woman/man”as entry points through which to explore discursive constructions masculinities and femininities in the data, we find gendered distinctions in how characters’ bodies are evaluated, social roles attributed, and violence presented. We also find that a deficit approach to dementia dominates, emphasizing suffering, loss, and hopelessness. Characters with dementia are stereotyped as older and frail, either near death or already dead in body and/or mind. Overall, the AI-generated texts recycle (and potentially amplify) pervasive discourses regarding both dementia and gender. Our findings therefore reinforce the need for further critical engagement with GenAI, from design to use, to interrogate and challenge its capacity to perpetuate inequalities.

Out now: 'A Critical Discourse Analysis of AI-Generated Character Descriptions of Men and Women With Dementia', with Chris Chikodzore-Paterson and @gavinbrookes.bsky.social:

📑Journal article: utppublishing.com/doi/epdf/10....

📝Author copy (open access): eprints.lancs.ac.uk/id/eprint/22...

Text bubbles say New blog post! Football, traumatic brain injury and dementia in UK news.

We have a new blog post!

Here, @emma-putland.bsky.social, @fliss-slocombe.bsky.social, Hannah Thompson-Radford and @gavinbrookes.bsky.social explore how football, traumatic brain injury and dementia are represented in the British Press:

wp.lancs.ac.uk/public-disco...

Demonstrating how visual and linguistic choices affect dementia stigma is crucial. Our words and images shape perceptions. We need to promote mindful communication. #DementiaAwareness #EndStigma

We now have a Bluesky account for the Public Discourses of Dementia project! Check out what we're doing, and what we've been up to, below! 👇 #dementia #appliedlinguistics #discourse #corpuslinguistics

Also read our blog, which includes insights from guest authors on dementia communication related topics such as the 'doom loop', pain, generative AI, art therapy, hearing loss, risk factors and a conversation-starting play called ‘The World Turned Upside Down’...

➡️ wp.lancs.ac.uk/public-disco...

How can dementia stigma be reproduced and/or resisted through visual and linguistic choices?

We explore this question and more in our publications: wp.lancs.ac.uk/public-disco... 📑📖

Hello!

At the Public Discourses of Dementia Project, we aim to identify and challenge stigma around #dementia by analysing how people and organisations communicate about the syndrome in public.

You can find out more on our website: wp.lancs.ac.uk/public-disco... and in this thread 😊