Page 162 - 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. 162
What Do We Know about the World?
of the effects of the crisis and the necessity to define what actions the
Polish government should have taken (or already has taken) consider-
ing the circumstances. Of no lesser importance there was the arrange-
ment of the Polish political scene, as well as the interests and needs of
the political parties. Also the level of support they received from the vot-
ers as well as the timeframe for the elections. The analyzed debates took
place in different timeframes: in the middle of the Seym’s term, sever-
al months before its completion but still before the official beginning
of the election campaign as well as in the beginning of the new term. It
seems natural that the debates become more heated the closer the date
of the elections. Similarly the first sessions of the new parliament are
rich in lively discussions, since our envoys (or new political groups) are
eager to present themselves as active and significant political forces. The
debates which were analyzed were not particularly exciting. There were
several factors responsible for it. First, direct effects of the crisis were not
yet particularly felt by the Poles. True, there was already present a gen-
eral awareness of the crisis, but particularly dramatic situations were ab-
sent and thus did not provide the material for emotionally loaded nar-
ratives or moving examples. Secondly, Poles are generally in favour of
the EU, supporting further deepening of the integration process. Some
later studies showed that the opinion was divided as far as the commit-
ment of Poland in the aid to the crisis stricken countries (CBOS, 2012),
but the debates took place at the time, when the information on the fis-
cal pact just began to appear in the public debate. That is the time when
the public opinion on the subject started to coalesce. That obviously cre-
ated an opportunity for the politicians – a skillful definition of the sit-
uation would allow that interpretation to appear in the media and then
in the public opinion. And – it is a third important factor – the Union
issues do not seem to be the main bone of content in the Polish political
scene. The concepts of Poland’s role in the EU do not constitute the ba-
sis for differentiation of the political parties. As it is well known, politi-
cal rhetoric is the most spectacular only when it is strongly related to the
identity of the given party (Kampka, 2009).
Rhetorical situation it is actually all that is contained in the mutu-
al relations between the speaker, the audience, the topic of the speech
and the circumstances of its delivery. The rhetoric is “essentially-relat-
ed-to-situation”, as Bitzer explains. Rhetorical situation is also closely
connected with interaction ritual (Goffman, 1967). The speech is the re-
sponse to the situation; rhetoric “changes reality through the mediation
of thought and action” (Bitzer, 1999: 219).
of the effects of the crisis and the necessity to define what actions the
Polish government should have taken (or already has taken) consider-
ing the circumstances. Of no lesser importance there was the arrange-
ment of the Polish political scene, as well as the interests and needs of
the political parties. Also the level of support they received from the vot-
ers as well as the timeframe for the elections. The analyzed debates took
place in different timeframes: in the middle of the Seym’s term, sever-
al months before its completion but still before the official beginning
of the election campaign as well as in the beginning of the new term. It
seems natural that the debates become more heated the closer the date
of the elections. Similarly the first sessions of the new parliament are
rich in lively discussions, since our envoys (or new political groups) are
eager to present themselves as active and significant political forces. The
debates which were analyzed were not particularly exciting. There were
several factors responsible for it. First, direct effects of the crisis were not
yet particularly felt by the Poles. True, there was already present a gen-
eral awareness of the crisis, but particularly dramatic situations were ab-
sent and thus did not provide the material for emotionally loaded nar-
ratives or moving examples. Secondly, Poles are generally in favour of
the EU, supporting further deepening of the integration process. Some
later studies showed that the opinion was divided as far as the commit-
ment of Poland in the aid to the crisis stricken countries (CBOS, 2012),
but the debates took place at the time, when the information on the fis-
cal pact just began to appear in the public debate. That is the time when
the public opinion on the subject started to coalesce. That obviously cre-
ated an opportunity for the politicians – a skillful definition of the sit-
uation would allow that interpretation to appear in the media and then
in the public opinion. And – it is a third important factor – the Union
issues do not seem to be the main bone of content in the Polish political
scene. The concepts of Poland’s role in the EU do not constitute the ba-
sis for differentiation of the political parties. As it is well known, politi-
cal rhetoric is the most spectacular only when it is strongly related to the
identity of the given party (Kampka, 2009).
Rhetorical situation it is actually all that is contained in the mutu-
al relations between the speaker, the audience, the topic of the speech
and the circumstances of its delivery. The rhetoric is “essentially-relat-
ed-to-situation”, as Bitzer explains. Rhetorical situation is also closely
connected with interaction ritual (Goffman, 1967). The speech is the re-
sponse to the situation; rhetoric “changes reality through the mediation
of thought and action” (Bitzer, 1999: 219).
