PORADNIK JĘZYKOWY

ISSUE 8 / 2008

ARTICLES AND DISSERTATIONS

  • Elżbieta Sękowska : The National and the European in the Public Discourse

    The problem analysis has been based on the sociopolitical journalism at the turn of the century with a special consideration of texts written before the Polish access to EU. A reference to research concerning changes of Polish national identity due to European integration has also been made. National identity and European identity are not contradictory but ought to be considered as conjunctive.

    The lexeme Europe and its functioning in the text has been analyzed. Three groups of meanings are applied to it currently: Europe is a continent, Europe is a culture community, Europe is the European Union. Thus, the modifications of the meaning of an adjective European has been analyzed. It recalls the following connotations: better, perfect, more efficient. This is due to recognition of Western cultural superiority.

  • Kazimierz Ożóg : About the Language of Polish Politics after 1989

    The year 1989 was in Poland and many European countries, which were in the orbit of soviet influence, the beginning of revolutionary changes: political, economic, social and cultural ones. These changes also influenced Polish language, which has changed radically for the last 20 years. Among political discourses, the greatest changes concerned the language of politics. Nowadays, it is a diversified way of talking about public affairs, a spectrum which joins different registers and styles. The important reason for its variety is the instability of the Polish political scene, the abundance of political parties, constantly forming new parliamentary groupings and governmental coalition, and the disappearance of others. In the language of the contemporary politics, the lexis is particularly extensive and includes thousands of words referring to public life and the Poles.

    The major point in the article is the claim that the language of contemporary politics is getting poorer, looses its elegance and becomes more and more primitive. The author seeks the reason for its pauperization in the trends of contemporary culture. He shows the main features of the phenomenon: the turn towards commonness and informality, emotionality of expressions, hermetic vision of the world, impossibility of a dialogue increase of populist attitudes.

  • Katarzyna Kłosińska : On the Names of Contemporary Polish Political Parties
    The article offers an analysis of the names of more than 300 political groups (mainly parties), which appeared in Poland after the year 1989. Their functions are presented here, as well as their influence on electoral choices of the society. The detailed analysis is focused on two nominative aspects: categorization of the group and defining the community that the group aims at. Genus proximum is the element which takes part in categorization processes. Several nouns have been distinguished here (partia, ruch, stronnictwo – party, movement, wing etc.) and the PR directions of the parties suggested by main lexemes in their names have been analyzed. An analysis of words other than genus proximum leads to the image of the community, which, by its names, is formed by the recipient. Almost all lexemes which constitute the names of parties have been categorized by means of graphs.
  • Irena Kamińska-Szmaj : The Language of Political Propaganda in the Second Polish Republic
    Based on the analysis of public speeches of politicians and political commentators, the author managed to distinguish the major characteristics of the language of propaganda in the 2nd Polish Republic. Pragmatic aspects of language usage such as: historic-social and cultural conditions, multi-directional model of political communication, publicized behavioral patterns in politics as well as subjected to various ideologies systems of values and stereotypes together with prejudices, but also idiolects of famous politicians and sharp remarks of political journalists, had a great impact on emotional character and variety of the language. The process of language democratization occurred in the press, as such means of expression were used which might be easily understood by mass recipient. The language created that way was ideologically varied, full of negative emotions, reflecting the fierce struggle for power.
  • Irena Szczepankowska : Law and Freedom in the Political Discourse of the Pre-Partition Republic of Poland (Essential Research Issues)
    The subject of the analysis presented in the article is the political discourse in the period of the Polish Republic of Gentry (16–18th c.). The author argues that in the centre of the contemporary debates, there were always values related to two main notions ingrained in the consciousness of the citizens of the Polish-Lithuanian Republic: freedom and law. These central notions organize the “field of discourse” and reveal the area of knowledge which is a characteristic indicator of the type and level of the culture (in this case political and civic one) prevailing in a particular time and place. The discourse concerning law and freedom proceeded with a changeable intensity throughout the whole period of the republic’s existence and also after its downfall at the end of the 18th century. It reflects the significant attitude of citizens: from their attachment to legalization (rule of law) and initiative for the common interest to the protection of personal and political privileges of the ruling class, i.e. “golden freedom” of the gentry. Despite the changeable historical determinants, the discourse, as proved by the author, has maintained its relevance in the most crucial dilemmas appearing as subjects of disputes in the democratic society.

REPORTS, NOTICES, POLEMICS

REVIEWS

  • Marta Piasecka : Zygmunt Saloni, Włodzimierz Gruszczyński, Marcin Woliński, Robert Wołosz, Słownik gramatyczny języka polskiego, Warszawa 2007
  • Beata K. Jędryka : Franciszek Grucza, Lingwistyka stosowana. Historia – Zadania – Osiągnięcia, Warszawa 2007
  • Jowita Latko : Gwary dziś. 4. Konteksty dialektologii, Ed. by J. Sierociuk, Poznań 2007

WORDS AND PHRASES