Narratives of Disenfranchised Self in the Polish Post-Communist Reality

Abstract

Since the events of 1989–91 in Central and Eastern Europe, the comfortable political certainties and official ideologies of the Cold War were called into question on both sides of the former Iron Curtain. The introduction of liberalised ideologies, both at the official level and in most of the freed media also had to be translated into most of the countries’ systems. New laws and new textbooks which would accommodate the new social and political realities had to be written. Political parties had to espouse new ways of communicating with voters. Finally, new official national narrative had to be found. But what are mostly discursive changes have been coupled with those which, although semiotised and ideologised, can be seen as deep changes in the social fabric of the communities. State budgets could not cope with just about any significant expenditure, and health and social security systems needed immediate and deep reform. Most importantly, the collapse of heavy nationalised industry meant that jobs were no longer secure and unemployment rose at a frightening rate.