Niepodległość zaklęta w poezji – językowe wyznaczniki narodowych wartości w liryce lotniczej
Independence Enchanted in Poetry – the Linguistic Determinants of National Values in the Air Force Lyrics

Summary/Abstract: The turbulent history of Poland and the Polish nation’s struggle for independence found its reflection in national literature and art. In order to determine the linguistic determinants of national values encoded in the poetry of war (the so-called Tyrtian poetry), a collection of lyrics written by airmen fighting in Polish squadrons in Great Britain was examined. Air force poetry differs from legionary or insurrectionary poetry because of its combat, social and political conditions. It connotes a set of universal motifs, symbols, key words and values, which turn out to be common, but it also has its own peculiarities typical of it: space, the ocean, birds, flight, the wing, the white-and-red chessboard, longing, betrayal. A self-sacrificing struggle for the freedom of the homeland and the world ends in political betrayal, exclusion from the Victory Parade in London, social rejection and the impossibility of returning to Poland, which the poets express in works that imply strong emotions: anger, frustration, bitterness of disappointment and resentment. In conclusion, the analysis of the linguistic exponents of national values present in the analysed collection of war poetry demonstrates the uniformity of the Polish national identity and the universality of the national axiological system.

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