Współczesna "mała ojczyzna"? : obraz Białegostoku i jego mieszkańców w reportażu Marcina Kąckiego Białystok. Biała siła, czarna pamięć

Abstract

The subject of the article is the image of the city contained in the reportage by Marcin Kącki entitled Białystok. Biała siła, czarna pamięć (Białystok. White Power, Black Memory). The author of the article, by means of employing the theory of the linguistic picture of the world, evaluation, and the category of a stereotype, presents the most important images and metaphors which constitute the description of Białystok. The analysis is focused on three basic semantic fields: 1) “the self – the other” dichotomy, realized on ethnic (the Polish – the Jews) and on religious (Catholics – Orthodox) plane; 2) the notion of multiculturalism (i.a. racial, ethnic, or sexual), generating the attitudes of intolerance and discrimination; 3) fascist ideology that identifies the fans of Białystok’s football team. Individual elements subjected to positive evaluation have exposed the insignificance of such opinions in the reportage. The indicated categories have revealed a definitely pejorative image of the city and its inhabitants.