Prawda i kłamstwo w wypowiedziach populistycznych

Abstrakt

Populism is a political term, the meaning of which is constantly expanding. Especially in recent years it has been overused, serving as a political adversaries labels, which raises negative connotations.

The article analyzes the speech, mostly from the years 2000-2007 from the Polish Parliament, of politicians representing parties that political scientists called populist, that is Samoobrona, Liga Polskich Rodzin, Prawo i Sprawiedliwość, Polska Partia Pracy (Self-Defense, the League of Polish Families, Law and Justice, the Polish Labour Party). The aim of this paper is to show how to present the two values — truth and lies — to run their political discourse. In populist speeches valuation serves to create a hierarchy of values, and simultaneously serves as a liaison between the sender and the recipient. These words often fall into two basic categories expressing philosophical (participation in world of signs) — truth and lie.

These categories — as well as other elements of speech — are used for political struggle. Firstly to disqualify political opponent (enemy), and secondly, to provide support for the “defenders of the people.” The truth is considered autotelic value in axiology — as opposed to false, which is a negative value. The truth belongs to the basic values of the society. A large number of contexts, statements by politicians of different orientation proves this thesis. Of course, the truth is „our domain”, „lie” is the domain of political opponents.

Populists pose as preachers and defenders of the truth, which — in their opinion — has been previously hidden from the public. Attributing their political opponents with lie, trying to discredit them.