Concept profiling and valuation in contemporary Polish public discourse: The concept of comfort

Abstract

This study is concerned with the profiling and valuation of the concept of wygoda ‘comfort, convenience’. The first part discusses the semantic content of the lexeme wygoda on the basis of dictionaries of contemporary Polish. The second part examines how this concept and lexeme operates in various types of discourse: nationalist-right-wing, leftist, and feminist. The analysis of the research material revealed that in the first type of discourse, wygoda is contrasted with family, national-patriotic, and Christian values. In leftist discourse, wygoda is attributed to privileged groups, while in feminist discourse, it is predominantly associated with men. Additionally, one profile, wygoda and ecology, proved to be common to both leftist and feminist discourse, where its valuation is predominantly negative. In nationalist-right-wing discourse, the need to prioritize wygoda at the expense of other values is seen as spreading among younger generations of Poles under the influence of Western culture, which causes a rift with traditional values. Conversely, in leftist and feminist discourse, it is portrayed as being attached to what is familiar and traditional. The word wygoda can thus be considered one of the contemporary buzzwords.