PORADNIK JĘZYKOWY

ISSUE 6 / 2013

ARTICLES AND DISSERTATIONS

  • Jakub Z. Lichański : History of rhetoric; a still opened chapter, or rhetoric – an evolving science
    In this text three examples of this type of research will be presented. One concerns the question of understanding the Aristotelian tradition; and more specifically, Chapter 19 of Poetics (it is a discussion of the commentary by Wolfram Ax). Another is associated with Philodemus and it “imposes” the need to consider the very essence of the theory of rhetoric. The final one is related to attentive reading of Quintilian and his definition of rhetoric, which is provided in Book 5. It turns out that we might have made a hasty assumption about the manner in which he comprehends the theory of rhetoric and how it should to be understood in the ancient tradition.
  • Agnieszka Budzyńska-Daca : Debate as a rhetorical genre
    This paper raises the problem of the genre identity of the debate as a form of public communication. It points to its rhetorical and dialectical roots and social functions distinguishing it from other dialogue genres. First, the debate is presented in two genological registers: related to media studies and linguistics, where descriptions of debates from the viewpoint of methodological assumptions of both these disciplines are to be found. Another step is turning towards the rhetoric genological reflection from both the classical and contemporary perspective. Finally, a description of regularities characteristic of the debate as a genre is presented, ones that are updated in various discourses and rhetoric situations.
  • Kazimierz Ożóg : On certain rhetorical mechanisms in texts regarding political populism
    Political populism is characterised by extremely sharp, emphatic, radical manner of speaking. To this end it takes advantage of several rhetorical mechanisms which serve the reinforcement of utterances. This paper analyses such linguistic means as: epithet, metaphor, irony, hyperbole, rhetorical question, as well as the realisation of the we-you (they) opposition. The use of such rhetorical means is conditioned on the fact that the recipients of these texts are ordinary people – the domain of populists’ activities. Polish populist texts after 1989 are shaped to suit the level of recipients. No complex figures of speech are to be encountered there.
  • Laura Polkowska : Persuasive inference in politicians’ utterances (on the example of speeches by parliamentary representatives of the Polish right wing)

    This sketch is dedicated to analysing examples of persuasive inference which can be found in the content of parliamentary speeches of right-wing members of Parliament. The research material is composed of randomly selected texts of parliamentary speeches delivered by members of Parliament of the 4th and 5th term of Parliament’s office (the period 2001–2007).

    This paper discusses inference schemes based on generalisation, identification and shallow analogy. Generalisation consists in expanding a theorem or phenomenon beyond its natural boundaries, persuasive identification is a device consisting in conscious exposure of similarities of two objects and simultaneous concealment of all differences between them, while inference based on shallow analogy uses hardly perceptible similarities between two phenomena.

    Persuasive inference differs from logical inference in that its aim is to convince recipients even at the cost of formal correctness of the reasoning itself. Politicians willingly apply erroneous, yet attractive in terms of persuasion, premises which ought to be primarily adjusted to and accepted by listeners.

  • Józef Jaworski : The linguistic image of a Jacobin in journalistic texts from the late 18th century
    This paper discusses characteristics of a Jacobin recorded in the vocabulary of Polish journalistic texts of late 18th century. They are presented and studied by the author in two profiles: 1) the positive characteristics found in the researched texts form an image of a Jacobin as a fighter for ideas of liberty, equality and justice; 2) the negative traits, such as impulsiveness, a propensity to destroy the social order, insincerity, etc., create a derogatory picture of a Jacobin. Predominant among them are attributes portraying the object of the characterisation in an unfavourable light.
  • Patrycja Pelc : Hyperbole as a tool for creating extraordinariness in rhetorical texts. On the example of opinion forming press
    This text is focused on rhetorical research regarding manners of creating extraordinariness in Polish opinionforming weeklies (“Newsweek”, “Wprost”). Extraordinariness is not defined as an autotelic value but rather as a utility value which is realised in a text and fulfils the function of increasing the attractiveness of the magazine. One of the tools for creating extraordinariness is hyperbole, which is not merely a single figure manifesting itself at the sentence level but it constitutes an extensive semantic structure that activates other figures of words and thoughts, various toposes, argumentation types and composition devices. Hence, maximisation not only concerns the vision presented in the text but also refers to rhetorical amplification. The described objects, situations, etc. gain signs of extraordinariness although they are in fact ordinary. Senders concentrate on exploiting the commented events for both dramatic and sensational components – troublesome, uncomfortable everyday life phenomena are described with the use of infernal references, whereas popular representations, achievements to date are labelled as a myth.
  • Małgorzata Marcjanik : Rhetorical dimension of linguistic politeness. On the example of addressative forms in social communication

    The aim of this paper is to analyse the rhetorical efficiency of addressative forms applied in asymmetric (distance) relations. Particular attention is paid to assessing the form Mr./Ms. + first name, which has been spreading for around twenty years now. Its occurrence is associated with the process of Americanisation of Polish politeness manners.

    Persuasive suitability and unsuitability of the indicated addressative forms is discussed on the example of the following circles: commerce and services, higher education institutions, lawyers, medical staff, state and legislative authorities, television.

OLD AND CONTEMPORARY DICTIONARIES

REPORTS, NOTICES, POLEMICS

  • Józef Porayski-Pomsta : A report of the President of Zarząd Główny Towarzystwa Kultury Języka (Management Board of the Society for Language Culture) on the TKJ activities in 2012
  • Ewelina Tyc : A report on the conversatorium “Transdyscyplinarność badań nad komunikacją medialną” (“Transdisciplinariness of research on media communication” – Katowice, 22 November 2012)

REVIEWS

  • Robert Boroch : Peter Graff, Coppe van Urk (eds), Chomsky’s Linguistics, MIT Working Papers in Linguistics, Cambridge 2012
  • Joanna Wierzchowska : E. Golachowska, A. Zielińska (eds), Wokół religii i jej języka. Konstrukcje i destrukcje tożsamości (Focusing on religion and its language. Identity constructions and destructions), vol. 1, Warsaw 2011

EXPLANATIONS OF WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS

  • Beata Nowakowska : Fast food, McDonald’s, Big Brother and the contemporary reality

WORDS AND PHRASES