Polska dola – rosyjska sud’ba
THE POLISH DOLA AND THE RUSSIAN SUD’BA

Summary/Abstract: The sharp contrast between the semantics of the Polish los and Russian sud’ba, drawn by Anna Wierzbicka in Język i naród. Polski „los” i rosyjska „sud’ba”, as well as in Semantics, Culture and Cognition, must be reinterpreted in two respects. First, on the linguistic plane, other important concepts, such as dola, must be taken into account, which function in a wider conceptual universe to refer to people’s existential situation. Second, in the sphere of sociocultural and historical correlates of linguistic concepts, social factors rather than a mythical national spirit should be placed in focus. The Polish idea of los, close to Latin fortuna, has noble-romantic connotations: it is associated with playing, drawing lots, good luck, the unknown and the courage of taking risks. Dola, which since the 19th c. has had negative connotations in expressions polska dola ‘the Polish fate’, or chłopska dola ‘the peasant fate’, is a continuation of the semantics of the Latin fatum and as such refers to a God-given situation, difficult to change. If the Polish los does indeed contrast with the Russian sud’ba, the Polish dola, now associated with „the simple people” who do not benefit from the political and economic transformation, is largely convergent with the Russian concept. The distinction between los and dola rests on a general cultural opposition of coincidence and inevitability, a gift and destiny, an opposition present in both cultures.

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