Europe in Polish Public Discourse

This book is an attempt to reconstruct, in the context of Polish and European history and culture, the picture of Europe and European integration present in Poles’ minds. The reconstruction is based on semantic analyses of linguistic data in the context of Polish and European cultures. Until 2004, the political discourse on Poland’s foreign policy had been focused on the issue of Poland joining the European Union. The accession of Poland to the EU became the reason behind forming public opinions on Europe in general, its history, place in the world and its relations with other continents or civilizations, as well as on the place of Poland in the European civilization and in the European Union. In the discourses, there are two profiles of Europe in the context of integration: Europe as a stronghold and Europe as a community. This is the method which gave rise to the profiles of Europe which are represented by two socially entrenched points of view: a realist (pragmatist) perceives Europe as a stronghold and an idealist (visionary) – as a community.