ÌÇÐÄÔ­´´

Contact

• workRoom A72 Trent
  University Park
  Nottingham
  NG7 2RD
  UK
• work0115 846 7497
• fax0115 951 5924
• kevin.harvey@nottingham.ac.uk

Expertise Summary

BA (Loughborough) MA, PhD (Nottingham) Areas of expertise - discourse, multimodal discourse analysis; healthcare communication; shared reading; reading aloud; dementia discouse.

Research Summary

I have long been fascinated by the use of language and literature in social and therapeutic contexts. My book The Literary Lifeline (Bloomsbury, 2025) examines the contribution that imaginative… read more

Recent Publications

• EMMA PUTLAND, GAVIN BROOKES and KEVIN HARVEY, 2026. Representations of Dementia in Public Discourse. In: ALEXANDRA HILLMAN and JULIA SWALLOW, eds., Handbook on Dementia & Society Edward Elgar Publishing. (In Press.)
• EMMA PUTLAND, KEVIN HARVEY and GAVIN BROOKES, 2025. What is good care, and who is it good for? : A Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis of UK care home websites. In: BERNHARD FORCHTNER, ed., Handbook on Critical Discourse Studies Edward Elgar Publishing. (In Press.)
• SARA VILAR LLUCH and KEVIN HARVEY, 2025. Language of Dementia. In: HILARY NESI and PETAR MILIN, eds., International Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics, 3rd Edition Elsevier. (In Press.)
• KEVIN HARVEY, 2025. Bloomsbury.

• View all publications

Along with colleagues from the Centre for Dementia at the Institute of Mental Health, I have developed a blogging platform called Dementia Day-to-Day. Dementia Day-to-Day brings together a wide and ever-expanding panel of authors - from all walks of life, each with their own lived experience of, and interest in, dementia - to explore the subject of ageing and wellbeing from as many angles as possible. For further information, and to see the range of blogs currently on display, please visit: Dementia Day-to-Day is an ever-expanding resource. Accordingly we welcome blogs from new authors. If you would like to contribute, please email me at kevin.harvey@nottingham.ac.uk

Current Research

I have long been fascinated by the use of language and literature in social and therapeutic contexts. My book (Bloomsbury, 2025) examines the contribution that imaginative literature can make to improving health and quality of life, particularly in the context of reading aloud and shared reading. Written for a general audience, the book affirms the importance that language and literature can play in our lives, reminding us of reading's enduring, and sometimes surprising, ability to help us through times of illness, grief, and uncertainty.

The Literary Lifeline also explores another of my research interests, dementia and ageing. The book challenges the common assumption that cognitive decline destroys personality, and shows how it is still possible for people with dementia to maintain a sense of self and personal identity.

As well as my interests in reading and health, I am active in the field of applied discourse analysis. For instance, I enjoy critically examining the way in which dementia and aging are represented in popular media - all with the aim of revealing the assumptions behind such depictions, assumptions that are often taken for granted or as common sense. (It pays to be able to see through language and visual imagery!)

Future Research

I am currently researching in the area of reading for wellbeing and critical multi-modal discourse analysis.

• EMMA PUTLAND, GAVIN BROOKES and KEVIN HARVEY, 2026. Representations of Dementia in Public Discourse. In: ALEXANDRA HILLMAN and JULIA SWALLOW, eds., Handbook on Dementia & Society Edward Elgar Publishing. (In Press.)
• EMMA PUTLAND, KEVIN HARVEY and GAVIN BROOKES, 2025. What is good care, and who is it good for? : A Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis of UK care home websites. In: BERNHARD FORCHTNER, ed., Handbook on Critical Discourse Studies Edward Elgar Publishing. (In Press.)
• SARA VILAR LLUCH and KEVIN HARVEY, 2025. Language of Dementia. In: HILARY NESI and PETAR MILIN, eds., International Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics, 3rd Edition Elsevier. (In Press.)
• KEVIN HARVEY, 2025. Bloomsbury.
• HARVEY, K., 2023. Age and Ageing. 52(1), 1-2.
• JONES, S., AND HARVEY, K., 2020. Participation, Perplexity and Plurality: exploring the shared reading of a ‘difficult’ poem Changing English. 27(1), 34-49.
• BROOKES, G., PUTLAND, E., AND HARVEY, K., 2020. Multimodality: Examining visual representations of dementia in public health discourse. In: BROOKES, G., AND HUNT, D., ed., Analysing Health Communication: Discourse Approaches Palgrave. (In Press.)
• TISCHLER, V., SCHNEIDER, J., MORGNER, C., CRAWFORD, P., DENING, T., BROOKER, D., GARABEDIAN, C., MYERS, T., EARLY, F., SHAUGHNESSY, N., INNES, A., DUNCAN, K., PRASHAR, A., MCDERMOT, O., COATEN, R., ELAND, D. and HARVEY, K., 2019. Arts & Health. 11(3), 272-277
• BAILEY, A., DENING, T., AND HARVEY, K., 2019. Ageing & Society. 41(2), 362-376.
• BROOKES, G. AND HARVEY, K., 2019. Linguistic Approaches (Corpus Linguistics). In: J. BILLINGTON, ed., Reading and Mental Health Palgrave. 247-263.
• BROOKES, G., MULLANY, L., AND HARVEY, K., 2018. From Corpus to Clinic: Health Communication Research and the Impact Agenda. In: MCINTYRE, D. AND PRICE, H., ed., Applying Linguistics: Language and the Impact Agenda Routledge Routledge. 99-111.
• PETTY, S., HARVEY, K., GRIFFITHS, A., COLESTON, D. and DENING, T., 2018. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. 33(5), 679-687.
• HARVEY, K., AND BROOKES, G., 2018. Qualitative Health Research. 29(7), 987-1003.
• BROOKES, G. AND HARVEY, K., 2017. 'Just plain wronga!' A multimodal critical analysis of online payday loan discourse. Critical Discourse Studies. 14(2), 167-187.
• BROOKES, G. AND HARVEY, K., 2017. The Discourse of alternative credit: a multimodal critical examination of the Cash Converters mobile app. In: MOONEY, A. AND SIFAKI, E., ed., The Language of Money and Debt: A Multidisciplinary Approach
• BROOKES, G., HARVEY, K., CHADBORN, N. and DENING, T., 2017. Social Semiotics.
• BROOKES, G. and HARVEY, K., 2016. . In: M. GIOVANELLI and D. CLAYTON, eds., Knowing about Language: Linguistics and the secondary English Classroom. London and New York: Routledge. 125-136.
• JONES, S. and HARVEY, K., 2016. Journal of Arts and Communities. 7(3), 153-166
• BROOKES, G. AND HARVEY, K., 2016. Opening up the NHS to market: Using multimodal critical discourse analysis to examine the ongoing commercialisation of health care Journal of Language and Politics. (In Press.)
• BROOKES, G. AND HARVEY, K., 2016. Examining the discourse of mental illness in a corpus of online advice-seeking messages. In: L PICKERING, E FRIGINAL AND S STAPLES, ed., Talking at work: corpus-based explorations of workplace discourse Palgrave. (In Press.)
• BROOKES, G., HARVEY, K. and MULLANY, L., 2016. Gender & Language. 10(3), 340-363.
• BROOKES, G. and HARVEY, K., 2015. Social Semiotics. 25(1), 57-80.
• MULLANY, K., SMITH, C., HARVEY, K., AND ADOLPHS, S., 2015. ‘‘Am I anorexic?’ Weight, eating and discourses of the body in online adolescent health communication’ Communication and Medicine. 11(2), 1-14 (In Press.)
• HUNT, D. AND HARVEY, K., 2015. : ‘Health Communication and Corpus Linguistics: Using Corpus Tools to Analyse Eating Disorder Discourse Online’. In: PAUL BAKER AND TONY MCENERY, ed., Corpora and Discourse Studies: Integrating Discourse and Corpora Palgrave. (In Press.)
• BROWN, B., CRAWFORD, P. AND HARVEY, K., 2014. Corpus linguistics and evidence based communication. In: HAMILTON, H.E. & CHOU, P., ed., Routledge Handbook of Health Communication, London: Routledge. Routledge Handbook of Health Communication. Routledge. 75-90
• HARVEY, K. and KOTEYKO, N., 2013. Exploring health communication: language in action Routledge.
• HARVEY, K., 2013. Investigating adolescent health communication: a corpus linguistics approach Bloomsbury.
• HARVEY, K., MULLANY, L. AND LOCHER, M., 2013. 'Can I be at risk of getting AIDS?' A linguistic analysis of two Internet advice columns on sexual health Linguistics Online. 59(2/13), 112
• HARVEY, K., 2013. Social Semiotics. n/a(n/a), n/a
• CRAWFORD, P., GILBERT, P., GILBERT, J., GALE, C. AND HARVEY, K., 2013. Qualitative Health Research. 23(6), 719-727
• HARVEY, K. and BROWN, B., 2012. Canadian Modern Language Review. 68(3), 316-340
• HARVEY, K., 2012. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics. 17(3), 349-379
• HARVEY, KEVIN & ADOLPHS, SVENJA, 2011. Discourse and Healthcare. In: HANDFORD, MICHEAL AND GEE, JAMES PAUL, ed., Routledge Handbook of Discourse Analysis Routledge.
• HARVEY, K., 2011. Journal of Sociolinguistics. 15(4), 528-532
• HUNT, DANIEL, & HARVEY, KEVIN, 2010. Grammar and Doctor–Patient Communication. In: CAROL A. CHAPELLE, ed., The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics Blackwell Publishing.
• HARVEY, K., 2009. Electronic Health Discourse. In: CUMMINGS, L., ed., The Pragmatics Encyclopedia Routledge.
• ATKINS, S and & HARVEY, K., 2009. How to use corpus linguistics in the study of health communication. In: O'KEEFE, A and & MCCARTHY, M., eds., The Routledge Handbook of Corpus Linguistics Routledge.
• HARVEY, K., 2009. Young people’s views on depression/mental health: A linguistic analysis of emails to the Teenage Health Freak website In: Managing Child & Adolescent Mental Health in Primary Care Symposium, Imperial College, London, 26 March 2009..
• HARVEY, K, CHURCHILL, D, CRAWFORD, P, BROWN, B, MULLANY, L, MACFARLANE, A and & MCPHERSON, A., 2008. Family Practice. 25(4), 304-311
• HARVEY, K., 2008. 'Is the aids virus difficult to catch?': A linguistic analysis of an internet health advice column In: Researching Adolescent Health, 2nd Biennial Conference, London, UK, 23rd October 2008.
• GRAY, N, HARVEY, K, MCPHERSON, A and & MACFARLANE, A., 2008. 'Medicine dilemmas in adolescents' email messages'. The International Journal of Pharmacy Practice. 1, 34-35
• GRAY, N, HARVEY, K, MACFARLANE, A and & MCPHERSON, A., 2008. ''Help!' Adolescent health language in email messages' Journal of Adolescent Health. 42, 5-6
• HARVEY, K., 2008. Journal of Politeness Research. 4(1), 139-144
• HARVEY, K, BROWN, B, CRAWFORD, P and & CANDLIN, C., 2008. 'Elicitation hooks': A discourse analysis of chaplain-interaction in Pastoral and Spiritual Care The Journal of Pastoral Care & Counselling. 62(1-2), 43-61
• ADOLPHS, S, ATKINS, S and HARVEY, K., 2007. Caught between professional requirements and interpersonal needs: vague language in healthcare contexts. In: CUTTING, J., ed., Vague Language Explored Basingstoke : Palgrave Macmillan.
• HARVEY, K.J, BROWN, B., MACFARLANE, A. and MCPHERSON, A., 2007. Social Science and Medicine. 65, 771-781
• HARVEY, K.J. and ADOLPHS, S., 2006. 'Am I normal' Teenagers, Sexual Health and the Internet. In: International Conference of Language and Social Psychology.
• HARVEY, K.J and CRAWFORD, P., 2006. Exploring the Health Language of Adolescents In: National Conference of Research into Adolescent Health in Primary and Community Care.
• HARVEY, K.J. and ATKINS, S., 2006. Caught Between Professional Requirements and Interpersonal Needs:Vague Language in Healthcare Contexts In: Fourth Interdisciplinary Conference:Communication, Medicine & Ethics.
• HARVEY, K.J. and ADOLPHS, S., 2005. Communicating Medical Concerns: A Corpus Analysis of Adolescent Health Emails. In: Annual Meeting of the British Association of Applied Linguistics.
• HARVEY, K.J., 2003. No Laughing Matter: How the Tabloids Textualised Racism during 'Euro 96 Working with English Medieval & Modern Language, Literature and Drama. 1, 41-55