'Rainbow plague' or 'rainbow allies'?
TECZA 'rainbow' as a floating signifier in the contestation of Poland’s national identity
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/genl.21097Keywords:
floating signifier, Poland, discourse theory, anti-genderism, corpus analysis, LGBTQAbstract
The anti-genderism register, which demonises the LGBTQ+ community as promoters of so-called 'gender ideology', has spread in recent decades across right wing populist discourses around the world. In Poland, it is an important resource in right wing constructions of national identity, which appeal to a historicised account of Poland as the guardian of European Christianity. However, there is also a counternarrative that envisions Poland as a progressive member of the European Union with secular politics and respect for diversity in all its forms. In this context, the Polish lexeme tecza 'rainbow' is a floating signifier whose meanings are struggled over by opposing discourses of LGBTQ+ rights and their place in Polish public life. Drawing on an analysis of 521 texts from five media outlet types on the right and left wing sides of the political spectrum, this article examines the contestation of tecza as a site where the very meaning of present-day Polishness is discursively negotiated.
Rejestr antygenderyzmu, ktory demonizuje spolecznosc LGBTQ+ jako promotorow tak zwanej ,,ideologii gender", w ostatnich dziesiecioleciach rozprzestrzenil sie w prawicowych dyskursach populistycznych na calym swiecie. W Polsce stanowi on istotny element prawicowych konstrukcji tozsamosci narodowej, odwolujacych sie do uhistorycznionego ujecia Polski, postrzeganej jako straznika europejskiego chrzescijanstwa. Istnieje jednak kontrnarracja, prezentujaca Polske jako postepowego czlonka Unii Europejskiej, jako kraj zdolny do prowadzenia swieckiej polityki oraz poszanowania dla roznorodnosci we wszelkich jej przejawach. W takim kontekscie polski leksem ,,tecza" jest ,,plynna znaczaca", o ktorej rozumienie walcza przeciwstawne dyskursy praw LGBTQ+ i ich miejsca w polskim zyciu publicznym. W oparciu o analize 521 tekstow z pieciu rodzajow mediow, zarowno z prawicowej jak i lewicowej strony spektrum politycznego, niniejszy artykul analizuje kontestacje sensu ,,teczy" jako miejsca, w ktorym dyskursywnie negocjowane jest samo znaczenie wspolczesnej polskosci.
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