Problem, którego miało nie być. Język milicyjnych dokumentów poświęconych prostytucji w latach 1956–1969
A problem that was supposed to disappear. The language of the Civic Militia documents concerning prostitution (1956–1969)

Summary/Abstract: History of prostitution is both a fascinating and a controversial topic. Yet, it still has not been thoroughly researched by historians, especially when it comes to the postwar history of Poland. The purpose of his article is to deepen our understanding of prostitution in the postwar Poland. To achieve that the author has analysed the language used by the Civic Militia (Polish: Milicja Obywatelska) to describe this phenomenon in the 1960s. Both the methods of historical source analysis and historical sociology are used to accomplish that. The sources include written orders, reports and notes produced by the Civic Militia officers and stored in the Police archives. Furthermore, the professional journals such as the Służba MO have been carefully researched to observe the development of a specific expert discourse on prostitution. The language of these texts turns out to be deeply rooted in the traditional vision of female sexuality. On the other hand, the sources show a visible change in the Civic Militia’s attitude towards prostitution and the professionalisation of its operations.

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