What is it about?
In the last two decades of state socialism in Poland, Polish scholars, who were often involved in oppositional activities, produced linguistic studies of communist propaganda. I argue that the purpose of these studies was to promote liberal ideology and a liberal democratic system in Poland. This is because Polish scholars promoted certain ideas about language, especially “referentialism”, which are founded on liberal values. I demonstrate that discourse about language is politically engaged.
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Why is it important?
The ongoing crisis of democracy, which can be observed in many parts of the world, including Central and Eastern Europe, shows how important it is to understand what constitutes a liberal democratic system (I argue that it is associated with a specific use of language) and what poses a threat to this system. In this way, anti-democratic trends can be counteracted.
Perspectives
Linguists can play a very important role in the political arena. Even if they do not talk about politics explicitly, they often make normative statements about what language should be like, which can be interpreted as normative statements about society and politics. This is because language is a key component of the social world. Polish linguists promoted certain ideas about language, which was a disguised way of criticising the communist regime and promoted a liberal democracy in Poland.
Anna Stanisz-Lubowiecka
University of Reading
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This page is a summary of: On the language of liberalism, Journal of Language and Politics, November 2023, John Benjamins,
DOI: 10.1075/jlp.23014.sta.
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