Discourses about Polish: Constructing National Identity in the “Unsettled Period”

Discourses about Polish: Constructing National Identity in the “Unsettled Period”

by Anna Stanisz-Lubowiecka

In this talk I will discuss the symbolic meanings of the Polish language in public discourses about it in contemporary Poland. I will look at the debates about the Polish Language Act (1999), searching for underlying language ideologies. I will argue that in these debates the Polish language consistently stands for the Polish nation. This shows that Poland is in the process of shaping its identity in the “unsettled period” of socio-political transformations after the collapse of Communism (1989).

Please note that a copy of the Polish Language Act is kindly attached for your reference.