Słowa kluczowe

Streszczenie

The aim of the article is to define the relationship between the meaning included in an utterance and its formal shape. The author based his discussion on the study of natural communication. The notion of meaning is in the article associated with that which in communicational grammar is referred to as cognitive configuration. It is expressed through texts, but texts indicate the meaning a sender intends to send in only a conventional manner. The author stressed the mechanism of the emergence of meaning in the process of paraphrasing utterances and its consequences for the practice of translation. He included the notion of discoursive meaning assuming that every discourse has specific individual self-organisation rules without considering which communication within it would not be possible.

Słowa kluczowe

Streszczenie

The article offers an analysis of the perfective aspect within the approach of communicational grammar. The author provided an overview of selected verbs with a communication-based analysis of those which consist of recreating predicate-argument systems and their combinations (the so-called communicational scenarios) to indicate the impact of aspect on the resulting configuration of meaning. The text also includes examples of the analysis of metaphorical expressions.

Słowa kluczowe

Streszczenie

In the article, I attempted to indicate that in modern communication, i.e. also in social life, ratiomorphism has been appearing. I define it as an unconscious, innate, genetically determined and teleonomically survival-driven cognitive faculties, skills and patterns of behavior present in all living being, including humans.

It cannot be, however, associated only with emotions or irrationalism. In modern communication dominated by the new media, ratiomorphism takes on the form of technoratiomorphism. Therefore, it is obvious that ratiomorphism also appears in the sphere of meaning.

In the pre-internet era, meaning was associated with rationality and universal values such as truth, goodness, and beauty. In the internet era, there has been a turn towards ratiomorphic values: truth is being replaced with acceptance, goodness with utility, and beauty with attractiveness.

Paradoxically, than new strategy for finding and creating meaning is a rational strategy in the contemporary communicational environment.

Słowa kluczowe

Streszczenie

The discussion centres around two issues: the issue of meaning, and the question whether the tools of rhetoric viewed as the basic tool in interpersonal communication (be it everyday or specialist communication) can be helpful in reading and interpreting meaning. The author understands meaning after G. Frege: […] let the following phraseology be established: A proper name (word, sign, sign combination, expression) expresses its sense, stands for or designates its reference. By means of a sign we express its sense and designate its reference. The purpose of the discussion is also to answer a much more general question: whether through rhetoric can one say something important about the world, so do they define a philosophical thesis or only, from various perspectives, one searches for the most probable answer to a hypothesis.

The presented assumption is a result of the suggestion of Willard van Orman Quine: Rhetoric is the literary technology of persuasion, for good or ill, and it entails something which Randal Marlin defined as referentially translucent expressions.

Therefore, the hypothesis I shall try to prove is the following: can the sense of any expression be, using the tools of rhetoric, defined to such an extent so that it becomes a philosophical thesis and not a hypothesis? So that in terms of both the subject and the object the expression could be considered as true. Then and only then can one say that such an expression has/contains some (but not any) sense.

Słowa kluczowe

Streszczenie

The narration in the music video to Celine Dion’s song All By Myself is a linearly organised construct or composition equipped with features of logicality, which organises specific linguistic or image-based material. It constructs a fiction based on the principles of dramatism. If one assumes that a music video can be analysed as a system which produces meaning, then the production occurs mainly within two dimensions. Firstly, as fiction, and secondly, as narration. The sequential editing adds significance to the entire film. The specific connection points of individual scenes influence the interpretation of the images by viewers – they extract the significance of a portion of the music video. Surely this phenomenon could be defined as a production of sense.

Słowa kluczowe

Streszczenie

The article offers an analysis of the topic of negotiations, from the most concreto area (finances) to the most abstract (status and feelings), and then an analysis of the many meanings of the term profit, which in negotiations has three areas: mine, yours, or shared. Yet the estimation of profit requires a comparison with the idealsituation expectations or with other empirically available kinds of goods (profit). In all these, it is possible to modify the vision of a situation through tinkering or even systemic deception via the image of an anchor point, the extreme value. The concept of neuro-linguistic programming in particular includes a rich set of verbal manipulations, which may reflect the hidden intentions of a negotiating party. Even in an individual’s cognitive system, there exist tendencies for tinkering with the image of truth in order to protect the person’s good opinion of themselves. In the other part of the article, the authors discussed seven strategies of manipulation which are used in Polish business practice.

Słowa kluczowe

Streszczenie

The author assumed that a fair understanding of communication is such a reception which is close to the content, intent and mode assigned to it by the sender. That reception depends on the extent of the knowledge of a recipient, and their axiological attitude and view of the world. The analysed examples indicate various aspects of fairness of understanding and trigger questions regarding the method of studying the phenomenon.

Słowa kluczowe

Streszczenie

The article presents a communication-based analysis of the function of the ‘bez sensu’ [meaningless/ pointless/makes no sense etc.] phraseme. The author discusses the conversational and discursive opportunities for using it. He applies the methodology of communicational grammar, which enables the analysis of communications at the ideational and interactive levels. Within the semantic level, ‘bez sensu’ removes the value of the trivialised semantic standard. In conversations, it is the reaction to scripts which contradict natural logic and the common-sensical cause-and-effect course of things. An important function is the bringing forward of scripts of failure, wastefulness, redundancy, and lack of benefit or expected or actual harm. At the interactive level, the ‘bez sensu’ expression fulfils the function of support for the argumentative power of a communication; it is also a measure of undermining an argumentation – it emphasises the frailty of its premises. In axiological strategies, ‘bez sensu’ is a major component of emotive acts and the building block of the emotional tension between interlocutors. In this instance, it is mostly used to bring forward the experience of a negative emotion. One negative outcome of using the ‘bez sensu’ expression is the introduction distance to interpersonal contact, and in some cases the sense of intellectually debasing the sender of a communication. The article includes several examples of media-based political statements with the ‘bez sensu’ expression, which are used for discrediting political opponents.

Słowa kluczowe

Streszczenie

The article poses a major study question: “Does standard interpretation exist?” In the methodology of communicational grammar, to which the author refers, standard interpretation is defined as a generalised pattern of the analysis of a communication by a virtual recipient, which consists of constructing basic, mutually cooperating elements of meaning. An empirical test was applied to the assumption that, despite the fact that the reception of a communication is a subjective process, its course is to some extent pre-determined, since a recipient, at certain stages of interpretation, progresses through specific standard references, common for most speakers of a language, while the later subjective extension of the interpretation will not contradict those standards. The article presents the results, the aims, methods, and the results of a survey study conducted to verify the assumption about the existence of a standard interpretation, one of the major assumptions of communicational grammar being developed by A. Awdiejew and G. Habrajska.

Słowa kluczowe

Streszczenie

The aim of the article is to verify the importance of gesticulation on one’s image in the popular science discourse based on YouTube videos by Wojciech Drewniak, a historian. The study employed the formula of an experiment in which subjects watched a video and defined the image-related characteristics of the YouTuber, and then were asked to write on what bases they assigned individual characteristics. Gesticulation became key for the construction of such image-related characteristics as: “energiczny” (energetic), “pasjonat” (enthusiast), “charyzmatyczny” (charismatic), “o wyrazistej mowie ciała” (with expressive body language), “ciekawie opowiada” (talks in an interesting manner), “chaotyczny” (chaotic), “szalony” (mad), “irytujący” (irritating), “pewny siebie” (confident), and “wyluzowany” (chill). Apart from gesticulation also tone and the pace of talking as well as expressive facial expressions had a major significance. It is necessary to conduct other studies to check to what extent the achieved results are typical for this type of YouTube communication and to what extent they are specific for Wojciech Drewniak only.

Słowa kluczowe

Streszczenie

The article refers to the issue of journalism education at university, in terms of the philosophical categories of meaning and truth. The author analyses the curricula of selected Polish higher education institutions in the majors of journalism and social communication, and refers to studies on education in journalism ethics in Poland conducted in 2015–2016. In his academic reflection, he indicates the inadequacy of university education for the proper preparation of journalists for fulfilling their profession when faced with the challenges of the modern era.

Słowa kluczowe

Streszczenie

John Thackara emphasised that 80% of the negative impact on the natural environment has its origin in design and the randomness of its application. Considering the entirety of design practices, one would have a hard time disputing this. In contemporary times, design understood as design practices has assumed a servile role in relation to big corporations. One can observe the consequences of such practices in real time: social exclusion, the lack of design consideration or consideration of end users, the failure of branding, and the polarisation of entire societies – these are only some dimensions of the current applications of design (including graphic design). Instead of the current applications, we need a change in the paradigm of both the theory of design and practical applications. Design needs a new code of application which would not only look good in social media, but would also be a clear point of reference in the design practice.

Słowa kluczowe

Streszczenie

The article presents the discussion which begins with a semantic clarification of the Polish terms of ‘sens’ [meaning] and ‘znaczenie’ [reference] in Polish linguistic usus, starting with the basic dictionary and corpus-based determinations, which indicate the subjective dominant element of ‘sens’ and the objective dominant element of ‘znaczenie’. Next, the author indicated the elements of philosophical discourse (J. Bocheński, J. Hartman, T. Komendziński), which defined additional conditions of meaning as “the meaning of life” and “meaning of action” and which emphasise the subjective and performative nature of meaning, particularly associated with the expressions “meaning of life”. The philosophical context of the discussion was supported by the findings of cognitive sciences which refer to the impact of the subconscious and its cognitive-performative potential introduced using the categories of the “subliminal” (L. Mlodinow) and “tacit knowledge” (M. Polanyi). The final part of the discussion was mainly devoted to the concept of the “cognitive-performative horizon”, it emphasised the dominant impact of the unrealised dimension of individual knowledge about existence and action in the world for meaning-building cognitive and performative activities.

Słowa kluczowe

Streszczenie

The text is a commentary to the phenomena in Polish modern art in the final years of the 20th century. It constitutes a “first-hand” account by a participant of the events and the host of the location. The location was the author’s private workshop in the attic of a Łódź tenement house in the very centre of the city, in the circles of artists creating situations, meetings, events and objects, which established Kultura Zrzuty [the Whip-round Culture], a phenomenon which described the activities of artists independent of state institutions and officials patrons in the 1980s. The analysis of the events within the area of independent Okolice Sztuki inspired the author to discuss the form of other artists and his own, who created art in Strych [literally: attic] in an unchanging conflict between physical and social existence and freedom in art.

Słowa kluczowe

Streszczenie

The author discusses the notion of the interpretation of a work of art. Starting with the assumption that the expression “Art’s hidden meaning” should be understood as a search for narrative plots that can be detected between the perceived spatial-figurative motifs and the formal notions in works of art, she analyses two sculptures by Zbigniew Władyka, both entitled Matka Ziemia [Mother Earth]. In her interpretation she emphasises the fact that, on the one hand, the meaning layer, i.e. the presentation of the woman as a future mother, and, on the other, the material necessary for creating it, their combination and the composition applied in this context, and the applied means of expression, as well as the method of sculpting chosen by the artist.

Słowa kluczowe

Streszczenie

The article presents the concept of ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) from a general and a linguistic perspective. The definition of the notion and a review on the state of research is followed by a classification of ASMR triggers based on the senses which constitute the source of experiencing the ASMR effect. The author argues that touch and smell be included in the classification of the triggers. The linguistic analysis focuses on the following issues: the phonetic properties of the voice triggers, onomastics – a grammatical and conceptual study of the 17 classes of medionyms (names of ASMR channels) which were distinguished in the present research, and the ASMR discourse as the space where phatic and social functions are carried out on the part of ASMRtists as factors developing bonds within the ASMR community and where evaluative and persuasive functions are prominent in the comments of the recipients.

Słowa kluczowe

Streszczenie

The article raises the topic of good manners and upbringing in the People’s Republic of Poland using the example of children’s and young adult press from the period. The author analysed 24 issues of Płomyczek from 1968 considering literature in education, upbringing strategies, and etiquette. Leaving aside the issues of propaganda and ideology, she enriched the analysis by considering the political history of Poland during the period of the “minor stabilisation”.

Słowa kluczowe

Streszczenie

The core of the text is a rhetorical analysis of the anti-alcohol propaganda in the films by Polska Kronika Filmowa produced by WFDiF. The author selected four reports from the popular series: Propaganda PRL-u. Najzabawniejsze polskie kroniki filmowe and analysed them using three types of textual analysis: metaphorical analysis, neo-rhetorical analysis, and ideological analysis. The article was complemented with facts from the political history of the People’s Republic of Poland in some specific aspects, e.g. the history of drunkenness in that period. The author also included a media research study regarding PKF, as well as theories of propaganda, persuasion and manipulation.

Słowa kluczowe

Streszczenie

The City of Man initiative, with a conscious reference to Saint Augustine’s De civitate Dei, wanted to build a system after the First World War that would ensure free and unfettered human development. This initiative was undertaken by emigrants from Europe and eminent American intellectuals: they all hoped that a realized democracy in the classical Greek sense of the word would not only give us peace, but also open a perspective that, among other things, would eliminate socialism in its fascist and Bolshevik variants.

Why do I open, however, an article devoted to this somewhat forgotten initiative with remarks on the subject of Hermann Broch, who, though he played an important role in the work of this group, was simply “one of many” (exactly one of the seventeen members of the group)? This is due to the fact that his voice was weighty. I also follow Paul Michael Lützeler’s suggestions; it must be remembered that the issues raised in the manifesto of the aforementioned group were taken up by the writer and philosopher, from the beginning of his activity, i.e. from his debut in 1931. It is worth looking at how the artist solved the same problems, which he then “tried” to describe and analyze as a philosopher and theoretician of economics.

Słowa kluczowe

Streszczenie

The politics of memory and culture of the Polish People’s Republic alludes to Ideologiekritik in its idiosyncratic way characterized by Marxist utopianism. In reality, this leads to reversing this theory. The causes of fascism are seen in “German imperialism”. For political and strategic reasons the German Democratic Republic becomes one of the main partners of the Polish People’s Republic, with regard to which it is capable of accomplishing the guidelines of its policy in the cultural dimension. This is accompanied by an intensive cultural exchange between the two countries. In the language of official politics manifested, for instance, in the strategy of publishing houses of the Polish People’s Republic the culture of the two countries develop in a parallel fashion, which is an obvious product of the propaganda.

Słowa kluczowe

Streszczenie

Works by Henryk Sienkiewicz, a Polish writer and the winner of the 1905 Nobel Prize for Literature, were subjected to verification by the DDR’s censorship apparatus several times. Censors considered his novellas which discussed 19th-century social issues as desirable and worth promoting among East German readers. His novel Krzyżacy, which was set in the Middle Ages, was accepted eagerly both by publishing houses and the censorship office as it enabled national socialism in Germany to be viewed in critical terms, as the DDR distanced itself from the system. Reviewers did, however, find a major ideological threat for young readers in East Germany in a young adult novel entitled W pustyni i w puszczy, and for that reason it was withdrawn from the publishing procedure.

Słowa kluczowe

Streszczenie

The article describes main forms of socialist propaganda in polish sports press of the 1950’s decade. As the analysis shows, sports magazines, despite their apparent thematic distance from political issues, had become tools of social impact. The main force of influence was concentrated in texts created typically for propaganda purposes, but also texts devoted to sports competitions (i.e. reports) contained political components. The most important manifestations of propaganda in the sports press were the mixing of sport with politics, promoting Soviet training and tactical patterns, over-emphasizing successes, informing about the socialist commitments made by athletes on public holidays, as well as criticizing social and political conditions in capitalist countries.

Słowa kluczowe

Streszczenie

The goal of the article is to offer a style-focussed description of samizdat press articles from the late-1970s, which were the textual manifestation of the independent discourse at that time. The author analysed representative microstyles and conducted a functional interpretation of identified stylistic devices and phenomena, considering how they were related to the official model of public communication. The discussed texts were stylistically diverse, which was a byproduct which came from structural and genre adaptations, and mainly play on language (lexical, textual, and intertextual). On the one hand, one can note an expansion of the array of stylistic devices (from various registers and styles) and, on the other, an inclusion into that array of the elements of newspeak in those contexts which indicated its manipulative nature.

Słowa kluczowe

Streszczenie

The aim of the article is to investigate some of the possible sources of inspiration for Orwell’s concept of the artificial language called Newspeak, which, in his novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, is shown as an effective tool of enslavement and thought control in the hands of a totalitarian state. The author discusses, in this context, the putative links between Newspeak and really existing artificial languages, first of all Esperanto, and also between Orwell’s notion of “doublethink”, which is an important feature of the totalitarian mentality, and Czesław Miłosz’s notion of “ketman”, developed in his book The Captive Mind. But the main emphasis is on the connection between Orwell’s book and the slightly earlier novel by C.S. Lewis, That Hideous Strength. It is well known that Orwell knew Lewis’s book and expressed his mixed feelings about it. There are many specific, though far from obvious, similarities between the two books, but what seems to have been particularly inspiring for Orwell was Lewis’s vision of a thoroughly degenerate language that is used for political manipulation rather than for communication.

Słowa kluczowe

Streszczenie

The aim of the article is the media and political analysis of the political discourse of German Chancellor Angela Merkel regarding refugees, launched by the famous slogan Wir schaffen das! The time study covers the period from 31.08.2015 to 28.02.2017. The author uses the system analysis method and the content analysis method. The research material is the texts published on the “Wirtualna Polska” portal.

Słowa kluczowe

Streszczenie

The article aims at analyzing the case of Beppe Grillo and his Five Stars Movement in terms of social, cultural and linguistic phenomenon that – initially as a virtual party without a structured organization – seems to conquer both right-wing and left-wing Italian citizens notwithstanding generational and ideological differences. The success of grillini (Grillo’s supporters) in the parliamentary election of 2018 as a consequence of Matteo Renzi’s constitutional referendum failure, represents a clear sign of the leadership crisis as well as the drifting apart of the ruling class that ignored the problems of ordinary people for several years. The analysis is focused on both form and content: on the one hand, the artistic expression characteristic of Grillo, his gestures, mimicry and direct language plenty of verbal hyperboles, rhetorical figures, swearwords and blasphemous obscenities that build his uncompromising charisma, on the other modern technologies and social media (including blogs, forums, profiles) that are used to communicate efficiently with the electorate, create an image of an open-minded politician keeping up with the outer world. All the aforementioned circumstances demonstrate an innovative approach based on political communication that devolves some level of decision-making power to the party supporters being active web users: bloggers and influencers at the same time. Such paradigm is followed by other representatives of the Italian political scene nowadays.