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Polish Aristocratic Identity as a Discourse of Ideology: A Critical Discourse Analysis Approach

Publication at Faculty of Arts |
2014

Abstract

Accepting a theory of narrative identity one must take into account that national past, which we interpret, was also based on interpretation because it had had to reflect versions of its own past. Thus there is a key question for understanding nations: to what extent one can apply methods of CDA to premodern national identities? Are we allowed to say that national identity has ever been a theory of practice - some kind of power tool of elites how to adapt their national ideology to changing political reality? A convenient way how to answer these questions could be a process of Polish nation forming whose elites had to reflect not only the loss of statehood and thus the programme of future desired development, but also causes of previous failure.

Analysis of conflicts between liberal, conservative and socialist attitudes during the 19th century within the question "Who is a Pole and where is Poland" should therefore clarify: 1) extent of ideological essence of national identity; 2) whether one can understand the dichotomy between political and cultural nations as a calculating tool of political competition within one nation.