Differences in self-presentational patterns : a community-of-practice perspective

Abstract

To allow for a more contextualized analysis of social discourse, political discourse in particular, many researchers (e.g., Wodak 1997; Holmes and Meyerhoff 2003; Mills 2005, 2011; van Dijk 2009) suggest the use of the concept of community of practice. It can also be applied to an analysis of politicians’ self-presentational styles. Members of different political parties, apart from having different views on relevant social issues and different hierarchies of values, can be easily identified by the way they behave and self-present. Political parties function as their communities of practice which determine practices in which they engage, discursive practices included. The aim of the study is to compare self-presentational styles of members of two Polish leading political parties, the Civic Platform, and the Law and Justice. Due to the specificity of the discourse to be analyzed, two approaches have been employed: Critical Discourse Analysis, and the post-modern/discursive approach to face and (im)politeness. The data used in the study come from TV political interviews.