The ‘Homeland – Graves’ Topos in Media Publications of the Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church

Abstract

The paper examines the ‘homeland – graves’ literary topos appearing in media publications of the Polish Orthodox Church. The material is excerpted from the periodicals ‘Przegląd Prawosławny’, ‘Polski Żołnierz Prawosławny’, ‘Cerkiewny Wiestnik’ and ‘Wiadomości Polskiego Autokefalicznego Kościoła Prawosławnego’ from the years 1989–2012. Based on the analysis of nine text samples, the author concludes that the presence of this topos is not connected either with genre features of the publications, or with text’s direct content (the time and place of the described events have no effect on the appearance of the topos). Analyses also reveal that the topos most often stimulates expressive, evaluative language; burial places are often mentioned to emphasize the belonging of Orthodox community members to the Polish nation and also include the aspect of the victims’ sacralization; the concept of homeland may refer to a specific region of Poland, the whole country, or to a territory inhabited predominantly by several generations of Orthodox Christians. The use of the ‘homeland – graves’ topos serves the aim to reveal Orthodox citizens as an integral part of the Polish society that shares the same challenges and makes the same sacrifices as other Poles. On the other hand, the topos may emphasize that Orthodox Christians comprise a separate community within the Polish state as they have been subject to persecution and suffering for their religious beliefs.