Elity i lud, czyli długa pamięć dyskursu
The Elite, the People, and the Discourse’s Long Memory

Historical Approach to Public Communication Studies

Summary/Abstract: The paper aims to indicate the common ground between historical sociology and discourse analysis. A field where a synergy of these two approaches can be heuristically valuable concerns communicational relations between the Polish elites and the people. Despite the historically changing designatum of the notions of elites and people, discursive ways of how the elites and the people relate to each other exhibit a dynamic continuity. In the second, empiric part of the paper, a contemporary practice present in the left-liberal elitist discourse, that is, speaking in the name and favour of the people, introducing and mediating their opinions in the public debate, and its historical prefigurations, is discussed using the example of an analysis of a radio broadcast „Świat się chwieje” [The World is Shaking] by Grzegorz Sroczyński in the radio station TOK FM. The episode is titled „Profesorka, nauczycielka i elektromonter – wszyscy pracujemy na taśmie, wszyscy przykręcamy śrubki” [Professor, teacher, and installation electrician: We all work on a production line, we all tighten screws], and was aired on 1 November 2020.

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