Punkt widzenia jako kategoria narracyjna i językowo-kulturowa
Point of view as a narrative and cultural-linguistic category

Summary/Abstract: The aim of the article is to present point of view as a narrative and cultural-linguistic category, which has been found useful not only in analyzing literary texts but also in linguistic research. The article is a review of the most important concepts in literary and, above all, linguistic studies, in which point of view plays a crucial role. Theoretical considerations are complemented with exemplifications of the profiles of Europe, created in various texts. In literary studies, point of view is discussed in relation to focalization, narration and cultural studies (cf. e.g. research conducted by M. Czermińska and M. Rembowska- -Płuciennik). The category addressed in this paper is used in cognitive linguistics (cf. R. Langacker’s, L. Talmy’s, G. Fauconnier’s propositions) and in linguistics that incorporates the cultural dimension in the description of language (cf. cognitive ethnolinguistics developed in Lublin). Within the linguistic conceptions referred to in this paper, point of view is always considered as part of a wider range of notions which are used for a precise and multidimensional description of conceptualization, both in relation to particular language structures and to the images of particular objects and phenomena (revealed in a linguistic worldview). It is therefore justifiable to consider the cultural dimension as a common denominator in literary and linguistic research. In ethnolinguistics, point of view is used specifically in the process of profiling. This paper juxtaposes and compares selected profiles of Europe, which are present in Polish public discourse (home, community, fortress), in W. Jagielski’s reportage entitled Wszystkie wojny Lary (‘All Lara’s Wars’) (fortress) and in poems by A. Adamowicz, published in Animalia (living being / animal). Profiles present in media texts can be characterized as social, but also spatial, whereas the profile of Europe as a living being is an original poetic creation, which is part of the “human” – “non-human, animal” perspective. Using different points of view is a way of shaping various visions of a particular phenomenon and, as a consequence, of the various ways of perceiving the world.

• Details
• Contents