Shockvertising, skandalizacja i komunikacja wirusowa w walce dyskursów: Nergal w „The Voice of Poland”
Shockvertising, scandalization and viral communication in discursive struggle: Nergal in The Voice of Poland

Author(s): Adam Warzecha
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego
Summary/Abstract: Participation of Adam „Nergal” Darski, the leader of the death metal band Behemoth, in the television talent show The Voice of Poland in autumn 2011 caused a media storm and fierce public debate in Poland. This story has focused as in a lens Polish social, political and religious life. Here heavy metal intersects with the popular media and culture, controversial stage image with court trials, Nergal’s fight against leukemia with advertising, Satanism and its symbols with Christianity, political struggle during the parliamentary election campaign with religious life, freedom of speech and artistic expression with religious freedom. This paper aims to answer two fundamental questions about those events: (1) How various discourses involved influenced each other? (2) Which communication mechanisms have been used? Methodologically I use the Critical Discourse Analysis approach of Norman Fairclough (2003, 2005) and the case study method (Gerring, 2007; Stacks, 2011, 2013) to identify three intertwining and interacting processes of communication: (1) Nergal’s shockvertising/publicity in the death metal niche; (2) Nergal’s shockvertising/publicity in TVP when promoting The Voice of Poland to mass audience; (3) political and religious scandalization performed by specific activists (various political, church and religious organizations, bishops etc.).

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