Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-ndw9j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-15T05:17:08.777Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Antitotalitarian language in Poland: Some mechanisms of linguistic self-defense

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 December 2008

Anna Wierzbicka
Anna Wierzbicka
Affiliation:
Department of LinguisticsAustralian National University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article explores the concept of political diglossia, a phenomenon arising in totalitarian or semitotalitarian countries, where the language of official propaganda gives rise to its opposite: the unofficial, underground language of antipropaganda. The author studies one semantic domain – the colloquial designations of the political police and security forces in contemporary Poland – and compares them with the official designations. The semantics of the relevant words and expressions is studied in great detail so that the social attitudes encoded in them can be revealed and rigorously compared. To achieve this, the author relies on the natural semantic metalanguage that she has developed over the last two decades, which has already been applied in the study of many other semantic domains, in many different languages. The social and political attitudes encoded in the Polish expressions referring to the security apparatus are discussed against the background of Poland's history. The author shows that language is not only the best “mirror of mind” (Leibniz) and “mirror of culture” and “guide to social reality” (Sapir), but also a mirror of history and politics. (Sociolinguistics, pragmatics, semantics, language of propaganda, expressive language)

Type
Articles
Information
Language in Society , Volume 19 , Issue 1 , March 1990 , pp. 1 - 59
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1990

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Aneks (1979). Jẹzyk totalitarny. Nr. 21. London.Google Scholar
Ascherson, N. (1981). The Polish August: The self-limiting revolution. London: Allen Lane.Google Scholar
Barwicz, R. (1970). UBE a sowiecka służba bezpieczeństwa. Kultura 6:77–101.Google Scholar
Brandys, K. (1982). Miesiace. Paris: Instytut Literacki.Google Scholar
Charlamp, W. (1988). Dziennik zewnẹtrzny. Kultura 11:65–75.Google Scholar
Davies, N. (1984). Heart of Europe: A Short History of Poland. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Dokumenty. (1969). Wydarzenia marcowe. Nr. 25. Paris: Instytut Literacki.Google Scholar
Dokumenty. (1977). Ruch Oporu. Nr. 44. Paris: Instytut Literacki.Google Scholar
Dziewanowski, M. K. (1977). Poland in the twentieth century. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Carton, Ash T. (1983). The Polish revolution: Solidarity 1980–82. London: Jonathon Cape.Google Scholar
Giełżyński, W. (1988). Strajk w stoczni. Kultura 7/8:135–43.Google Scholar
Grot. (1988). Solidarność regionu Pomorza Zachodniego. Szczecin 19.3.1988. Nr. 89 [a Polish underground serial].Google Scholar
Guzy, P. (1968). Stan wyjątkowy. Paris: Instytut Literacki.Google Scholar
Guzy, P. (1982). Wielkie nieszczẹście. Kultura 4:45.Google Scholar
Halliday, M. A. K. (1978). Antilanguages, In Language as social semiotic: the social interpretation of language and meaning. London: Edward Arnold, 164–182.Google Scholar
Jerz, T. (1988). Pacyfikacja. Kultura 7/8:125–35.Google Scholar
Karpinski, J. (1982). Countdown: The Polish upheavals of 1956, 1968, 1970, 1976, 1980. New York: Karz-Cohl.Google Scholar
Karpinski, J. (1984). Mowa do ludu: Szkice O jẹzyku polityki. London: Puls.Google Scholar
Karpinski, J. (1985). Polska, komunizm, opozycja. London: Polonia.Google Scholar
Kisiel, (Stefan Kisielewski). (1980a). Pan chce naprawić błẹdy systemu? Kultura 11:113–19.Google Scholar
Kisiel, (1980b). Emocje, entuzjazmy, zagadki. Kultura 12:113–18.Google Scholar
Klemperer, V. (1946). LTI Die unbewältigte Sprache. Darmstadt: Joseph Melzer.Google Scholar
Konwicki, T. ([1960] 1973). Zaduszki. In Ostatni dzień lata: Scenariusze filmowe. Warsaw: Iskry. 84–154.Google Scholar
Koscinskij, K. (1980). Slovar' russkoj nenormativnoj leksiki. Russian Linguistics 5:133–50.Google Scholar
Kultura [a Polish periodical]. Paris: Instytut Literacki.Google Scholar
Kultura. (1979). Trójgłos O nowomowie. Nr. 12. Paris.Google Scholar
Leibniz, G. W. ([1709] 1949). New essays concerning human understanding. La Salle: Open Court.Google Scholar
Lipiec, A. M. (1981). Praworzạdność i bezprawie. Kultura 7/8:96–107.Google Scholar
Łopiński, M., Moskit, M., & Wilk, M. (1984). Konspira. Rzecz opodziemnej Solidarności. Paris: Editions Spotkania.Google Scholar
Maca, D. (1988). Heim. Kultura 11:33–49.Google Scholar
Machejek, W. ([1957] 1969). Czy podpalalem domy? In A to Polska właśnie: wybór reportaży z lot 1944–1969. Warsaw: Czytelnik. 222–39.Google Scholar
Markowski, M. P. (1986). 40 lot władzy komunistycznej w Polsce. London: Polonia.Google Scholar
Michnik, A. (1985). Takie czasy … Rzecz O kompromisie. London: “Aneks.”Google Scholar
Nowakowski, M. (1982). Raport O stanie wojennym. Paris: Instytut Literacki.Google Scholar
Nowakowski, M. (1983a). Notatki z codzienności. Paris: Instytut Literacki.Google Scholar
Nowakowski, M. (1983b). Raport O stanie wojennym II. Paris: Instytut Literacki.Google Scholar
Olsztyński, Z. (1981). I co dalej? Kultura 7/8:85–96.Google Scholar
Orwell, G. (1949). Nineteen eighty-four. London: Seeker & Warburg.Google Scholar
Poezja stanu wojennego. (1982). London: Puls.Google Scholar
Poleski, M. (1981). Umowa a zmowa społeczna. Kultura 12:73–81.Google Scholar
Popiełuszko, K. J. (1985). Zapiski 1980–1984. Paris: Editions Spotkania.Google Scholar
PPN. (1978). Polskie Porozumienie Niepodległościowe. Paris: Instytut Literacki.Google Scholar
Romaszewski, Z., & Romaszewska, Z. (1981). O pracy Biura Interwencyjnego KSS “KOR.” Kultura 1/2:216–23.Google Scholar
Sapir, E. ([1929] 1949). The status of linguistics as a science. In Mandelbaum, D. (ed.), Selected writings of Edward Sapir in language, culture, and personality. Berkeley: University of California Press. 160–166.Google Scholar
Schuchardt, , ([1895] 1972). On sound laws. In Vennemann, T. & Wilbur, T. H. (eds.), Schuchardt, the neogrammarians, and the transformational theory of phonological change. Frankfurt: Athenäum. 39–73.Google Scholar
SJP. (1958–1969). Słownik jẹzyka polskiego. Ed. Doroszewski, W. (11 vols.) Warsaw: Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe.Google Scholar
Solidarność – Biuletyn Informacyjny. (1986). Nr. 132.Google Scholar
Szpotański, J. (1973). Cisi i gẹgacze. Paris: Instytut Literacki.Google Scholar
Tarniewski, M. (1982). Płonie Komitet. Paris: Instytut Literacki.Google Scholar
TKN (Towarzystwo Kursów Naukowych) (1979). O jẹzyku propagandy. Warsaw: NOWA.Google Scholar
Torańska, T. (1985). Oni. London: “Aneks.”Google Scholar
Trybuna Ludu [a Warsaw daily].Google Scholar
Tygodnik Mazowsze [a Warsaw underground weekly].Google Scholar
Université de Grenoble III. (1984). Essais sur le discours sovietique. Vols. 3&4. Grenoble: CEDEX.Google Scholar
Walichnowski, T. (1980). U źródeł walki z podziemiem reakcyjnym w Polsce. Warsaw: Ksiạżka i Wiedza.Google Scholar
Weschler, L. (1988). A reporter at large (Poland). The New Yorker. 08 29: 48–67.Google Scholar
Wierzbicka, A. (1972). Semantic primitives. Frankfurt: Athenäum.Google Scholar
Wierzbicka, A. (1980). Lingua mentalis. Sydney: Academic.Google Scholar
Wierzbicka, A. (1985). Lexicography and conceptual analysis. Ann Arbor: Karoma.Google Scholar
Wierzbicka, A. (1986). Does language reflect culture? Evidence from Australian English. Language in Society 15:347–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wierzbicka, A. (1987). English speech act verbs: A semantic dictionary. Sydney: Academic.Google Scholar
Wierzbicka, A. (1988). The semantics of grammar. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wierzbicka, A. (in press). Semantics and culture. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Woźniak, P. (1986). Zapluty karzel reakcji. Tu i tam I(I). Melbourne.Google Scholar
Zaslavsky, V., & Fabris, M. (1982). Leksika neravenstva – k probleme razvitija russkogo jazyka v sovetskij period. Revue des Etudes Slaves. Paris LIV/3:387–401.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zeszyty Historyczne [a Polish serial]. Paris: Instytut Literacki.Google Scholar