Page 159 - Gabrijela Kišiček and Igor Ž. Žagar (eds.), What do we know about the world? Rhetorical and argumentative perspectives, Digital Library, Educational Research Institute, Ljubljana 2013
P. 159
toric of Crisis: 159
Polish Parliamentarian Debates
on the Future of the EU
Agnieszka Kampka, Warsaw University of Life
Sciences – SGGW
Summary
The analysis of the Polish parliamentary debates on the Euro zone crisis indicates in
what ways politicians use metaphors to construct the situational definitions. The pa-
per shows the common area of the three notions of the rhetorical situation, defini-
tion of the situation and the persuasive definition. It serves to answer the question,
what factors influence the way of presenting the given aspects of reality in the public
speeches. The examples of the metaphors used in the debates are recalled in the con-
text of the functions that similes may play in the political discourse.
Key words: metaphor, rhetorical situation, crisis, parliamentary debates
Democracy assumes that people may disagree both as to the ends
and the means of action. Tough social situations, such as an eco-
nomic crisis and increasing discord in meta-state institutions
make differences and conflicting views more evident and visible. There
are different ideas in the society as to the ways of solving problems. In
addition, the differences are also present in the definitions of the prob-
lems. Therefore a debate is a key issue in a democracy. Differences of
opinion result often from a different understanding of reality, since we
consider its fragments in different contexts and have disparate criteria
of evaluating the actions we took.
However, if democracy assumes a drive for agreement, for finding a
satisfactory solution for all – it is necessary to present one’s point of view
in a clear fashion as well as a proposed course of action. It is mandatory
to define a situation as a starting point, as well as detail the conditions
Polish Parliamentarian Debates
on the Future of the EU
Agnieszka Kampka, Warsaw University of Life
Sciences – SGGW
Summary
The analysis of the Polish parliamentary debates on the Euro zone crisis indicates in
what ways politicians use metaphors to construct the situational definitions. The pa-
per shows the common area of the three notions of the rhetorical situation, defini-
tion of the situation and the persuasive definition. It serves to answer the question,
what factors influence the way of presenting the given aspects of reality in the public
speeches. The examples of the metaphors used in the debates are recalled in the con-
text of the functions that similes may play in the political discourse.
Key words: metaphor, rhetorical situation, crisis, parliamentary debates
Democracy assumes that people may disagree both as to the ends
and the means of action. Tough social situations, such as an eco-
nomic crisis and increasing discord in meta-state institutions
make differences and conflicting views more evident and visible. There
are different ideas in the society as to the ways of solving problems. In
addition, the differences are also present in the definitions of the prob-
lems. Therefore a debate is a key issue in a democracy. Differences of
opinion result often from a different understanding of reality, since we
consider its fragments in different contexts and have disparate criteria
of evaluating the actions we took.
However, if democracy assumes a drive for agreement, for finding a
satisfactory solution for all – it is necessary to present one’s point of view
in a clear fashion as well as a proposed course of action. It is mandatory
to define a situation as a starting point, as well as detail the conditions
