Perception of Poland and Poles in the Belarusian Internet Discourse in 2013–2019: A Qualitative Analysis of the Statements of Immigrants

Abstract

Recently, Poland has become an important emigration country for many Belarusians. Immigrants publicly comment on the host country and its inhabitants in various media, thus influencing ethnic stereotypes. Their voice may be important for other people considering emigration or for people who do not have direct contact with Poles, and who learn about their neighbours, among others, from media reports. The aim of the study was to establish the socio-cultural images of Poland and Poles from the perspective of Belarusian female immigrants. The researcher attempts to answer the following questions: how is Polish society presented in selected Belarusian online media in the statements of migrant women? What are the characteristics of Poles that may be similar to or different from Belarusians? What are the readers’ reactions in the comments to the press articles? The study was carried out using the qualitative method, namely media discourse analysis. The corpus of materials, compiled as part of purposive sampling, includes 12 reports from journalistic interviews published in popular Belarusian online news and entertainment editions between 2013–2019. The analysed responses present the views of a group of young women with higher education, living in large cities, most of whom use the Pole’s Card. The image of Poland is presented in relation to four dimensions: the cultural and ethnic dimension, the socio-economic dimension, the moral dimension and the efficiency dimension. Belarusian women have a positive image of the socio-economic living conditions in Poland, as well as social relations. Readers’ comments are varied and indicate a more critical reading of positive images of Poland and Poles.