Stanisz-Lubowiecka, Anna; (2024) The Polish Language and Politics. Language Ideologies in Polish Professional Metalinguistic Discourse (1970–2023). Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

In this thesis, I analyse language ideologies discernible in professional discourse of Polish scholars of language generated during three recent periods of Polish history: the last two decades of ‘communist authoritarianism’ (1970–1989), liberal democracy building (1989–2015), and the crisis of democracy under the rule of the right-wing populist Law and Justice party (2015–2023). I ask: What language ideologies are detectable in professional metalinguistic discourse developed by Polish scholars of language in these three periods? Are these language ideologies related to any political ideology, and if so, how? Why are certain language ideologies more salient than others in professional metalinguistic discourse in these three periods? I argue that Polish scholars of language supported or challenged specific visions of socio-political order, even if inadvertently, by relying on language ideologies in their professional discourse. They explicitly discuss language, but implicitly make normative statements about the socio-political system that language represents. Because the construction of the socio-political world is always carried out within a specific language, discourse about language references two layers of reality: on the one hand, it refers to language, but on the other, to the socio-political world it constructs. I demonstrate that language ideologies are related to political ideologies, and this relationship is more evident in discourses produced under non-democratic or anti-democratic regimes. The Polish case suggests, I further argue, that regime changes are an important factor impacting the changes in professional metalinguistic discourse. In my analysis of linguistic studies of communist propaganda written during the period of communist authoritarianism, I show that the underlying axiology of these studies is liberal. Consequently, liberal language ideology, founded on such axiology, challenges the legitimising principles of the communist regime. I also analyse a newspaper column authored by a professional linguist in state media, which employs standard language ideology. I argue that although the communist authorities may have hoped the column would legitimise their construction of Polish national identity, it promoted its alternative (nationalist-conservative) version. iv Next, I analyse Polish professional metalinguistic discourse produced during the period of liberal democracy building. I show that they promoted the idea of ‘protecting Polish’, which led to the appointment of the Polish Language Council in 1996 and to the passing of the Polish Language Act in 1999. I argue that compared to the previous period, Polish scholars of language employed a much more elaborate and comprehensive version of standard language ideology ‘thickened’ by nationalist and purist language ideologies, which were aimed at constructing a specific version of national identity (homogeneous, guided by the elites, with a strong state) in the period of economic, political, social, and cultural transformations. Turning to the period of democratic backsliding, I analyse two Polish Language Council reports on the state of the Polish language published in this period, arguing that professional metalinguistic discourse at the time underwent a liberal turn and is indicative of the ongoing culture war. On the one hand, Polish scholars of language again employed liberal language ideology (which was much more robust than in the period of communist authoritarianism) to explicitly defend democracy. On the other hand, Polish scholars of language continued promoting standard, nationalist, and purist language ideologies dominant in the previous period. While these linguists explicitly criticised the government, their professional discourse may have continued creating a discursive opportunity structure for the right-wing populist discourse of the Law and Justice party.

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