Denunciation Lexis of Polish Inmates of Soviet Prisons and Camps (in the Context of Considerations of the Factual Value of Historical Terms from the Soviet Period)

Abstract

The article discusses the issue of Polish as it functioned in Soviet prisons and camps. The author presented the lexis belonging to the thematic category of "denunciation". He excerpted material from the stories and memories of Polish inmates. The author presents the factual character of the gathered historical terms – he claims that the words are robust evidence of the criminal nature of the totalitarian system and its mechanisms. The author discussed sources of individual lexemes in the text (they are mainly Russianisms), and illustrated them with quotations from prisoners. The linguistic argumentation in the text is accompanied with comments on sociopolitical conditions of the denunciation-related linguistic behaviours in the Stalinist period. The author emphasized the fact that attitiudes of prisoners closely reflected the actions and motivations of people living in the world outside of prisons and camps.

Keywords

• lexis
• polish language in soviet camps
• factography
• denunciation