Home Chapter 7. Negotiating an identity
Chapter
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

Chapter 7. Negotiating an identity

The mediated discursive self-representation of the Polish immigrant community in the UK
  • Katarzyna Molek-Kozakowska
View more publications by John Benjamins Publishing Company
Search
Representing the Other in European Media Discourses
This chapter is in the book Representing the Other in European Media Discourses

Abstract

The chapter investigates the mediated entextualizations of the identities of Polish immigrants to the UK in the period of post-crisis politics and economic reforms. The media discourse studied is collected from MojaWyspa.co.uk (MyIsland), one of the largest Polish-language online hubs designed for the substantial Polish community living on the British Isles. The study shows which discursive strategies of othering are employed to delimit the Polish immigrants’ collective identity, which self/other-presentation techniques are used, and how this group identity is legitimized argumentatively. It examines the linguistic realizations of self/other reference, active/passive and positive/negative predication strategies, topoi and argumentative schema for self-legitimization and various framing devices, as well as the mitigation of the sense of identity crisis through temporality. It reveals the diversity of Polish immigrants’ self-presentation techniques and proves the Polish migrant identity to be in the process of renegotiation.

Abstract

The chapter investigates the mediated entextualizations of the identities of Polish immigrants to the UK in the period of post-crisis politics and economic reforms. The media discourse studied is collected from MojaWyspa.co.uk (MyIsland), one of the largest Polish-language online hubs designed for the substantial Polish community living on the British Isles. The study shows which discursive strategies of othering are employed to delimit the Polish immigrants’ collective identity, which self/other-presentation techniques are used, and how this group identity is legitimized argumentatively. It examines the linguistic realizations of self/other reference, active/passive and positive/negative predication strategies, topoi and argumentative schema for self-legitimization and various framing devices, as well as the mitigation of the sense of identity crisis through temporality. It reveals the diversity of Polish immigrants’ self-presentation techniques and proves the Polish migrant identity to be in the process of renegotiation.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Media representations of the “other” Europeans 1
  4. Part I. Othering as political and media practice
  5. Chapter 1. Orbán’s Hungary 25
  6. Chapter 2. Togetherness or othering? 55
  7. Chapter 3. The European “stranger” in Le Monde ’s headline discourse 81
  8. Chapter 4. Profiling of new Europeans in the British conservative press 103
  9. Chapter 5. Construing the Other 121
  10. Chapter 6. Discursive legitimation of criminalization and victimization of sub-Saharan immigrants in Spanish El País and ABC newspapers 135
  11. Part II. Othering as interpersonal and interactional practice
  12. Chapter 7. Negotiating an identity 157
  13. Chapter 8. Representations of Eastern Europeans in the UK in reader comments of two British online newspapers 183
  14. Chapter 9. Othering others 207
  15. Chapter 10. The othering of Roma migrants in British and Czech online news discussion forums 235
  16. Chapter 11. The Roma as ultimate European minority and ultimate outsider? 259
  17. Chapter 12. Othering in Estonian online discussions about refugees 281
  18. Contributors 305
  19. Index 309
https://doi.org/10.1075/dapsac.74.08mol

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Media representations of the “other” Europeans 1
  4. Part I. Othering as political and media practice
  5. Chapter 1. Orbán’s Hungary 25
  6. Chapter 2. Togetherness or othering? 55
  7. Chapter 3. The European “stranger” in Le Monde ’s headline discourse 81
  8. Chapter 4. Profiling of new Europeans in the British conservative press 103
  9. Chapter 5. Construing the Other 121
  10. Chapter 6. Discursive legitimation of criminalization and victimization of sub-Saharan immigrants in Spanish El País and ABC newspapers 135
  11. Part II. Othering as interpersonal and interactional practice
  12. Chapter 7. Negotiating an identity 157
  13. Chapter 8. Representations of Eastern Europeans in the UK in reader comments of two British online newspapers 183
  14. Chapter 9. Othering others 207
  15. Chapter 10. The othering of Roma migrants in British and Czech online news discussion forums 235
  16. Chapter 11. The Roma as ultimate European minority and ultimate outsider? 259
  17. Chapter 12. Othering in Estonian online discussions about refugees 281
  18. Contributors 305
  19. Index 309
Sign up now to receive a 20% welcome discount
Institutional Access
How does access work?
Have an idea on how to improve our website?
Please write us.
© 2025 De Gruyter Brill
Downloaded on 7.10.2025 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1075/dapsac.74.08mol/html?lang=en
Scroll to top button