Representations of power in the Polish press discourse (1944–1991). A social semiotic analysis
Representations of power in the Polish press discourse (1944–1991). A social semiotic analysis

Summary/Abstract: The aim of this paper is to analyse and interpret the ways in which the authorities were represented on the front pages of three Polish dailies published between 1944 and 1991. The author examines the kinds of semiotic resources used in the representations in question. The paper also discusses the meaning potential of the identified resources alongside the possible effects such representations might have had, as well as the relationship between them and the ongoing political situation. The time period this paper takes an interest in is that from 1944 to 1991, which marks a number of defining moments in Polish history, as well as the period of communism and the breakthrough period of political transformation. The three daily newspapers which served as research data are Trybuna Ludu [People’s Tribune], published from 1948 to 1990, the official voice of the communist authorities, Trybuna [Tribune], created in place of Trybuna Ludu in 1990 as its ideological and institutional successor, and Gazeta Wyborcza [Electoral Newspaper], founded in 1989 to disseminate the views of the opposition. The analysis involved examining the images primarily in terms of representational and interactive meaning, as well as some aspects of compositional meaning as described by Kress and Van Leeuwen in their grammar of visual design. The findings suggest changes in the types of depictions, involving for example, reducing distance, changed modality and a greater social relationship established symbolically between the represented – those in power, and the viewer.

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