Results: mature Mrs. Gardias,

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40 Ty masz odwage.⁸

You have got courage.

Similarly to Japanese, Polish grammar also permits the omission of subjects in sentences. Therefore, the second person pronoun ty is not obligatory, and yet was still included by the commenter. It is also redundant referentially, as in Polish verbs include information about the person. In the sentence above the verb masz is in the second person, which together with the context of the message as comment in a blog makes it obvious that the referent is Kaczorowska. This verb alone contains sufficient referential information.

The addition of the address term in this sentence can serve several purposes. One is emphasis. Another is contrast – “you have got the courage (but others do not).” The contrastive use is not unlike the difference between a Japanese sentence in which the subject is omitted and implied by context and one in which the subject is explicitly expressed, appearing together with the particle ha.

Ikimasu / Watashi ha ikimasu.

I will go. / (I don’t know about the others, they may not go, but) I will go⁹.

However, as we recall from the summary of Momo’s comments in the previous section, frequent address may also be an expression of familiarity, emotional closeness.

Z całego serca gratuluję Ci Agnieszko sukcesów.

With my whole heart I congratulate you Agnieszka on your successes.

8 Whenever written texts are used as data (for example when discussing internet posts), they are quoted verbatim, preserving all punctuation and spelling as it is.

My translations in some cases add punctuation and use standard spelling for ease of comprehension.

9 The translation is only one of several possible interpretations, used as an example.

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In the above sentence, neither Ci nor Agnieszko is the subject (which is omitted). They act as indirect objects, but as such they are also subject to volitional omission. Instead, the speaker chooses to include not just one but both of them in one sentence.

Table 8: References to Gardias and Kaczorowska (categorized) Address to

Gardias % Address to

Kaczorowska %

Pani 61% 2^nd person

pronoun (ty) ^62%

Pani + FN 10% FN 15%

FN 10% DFN 10%

DFN 5%

Other 14% Other 13%

Total 100% Total 100%

The address to Kaczorowska consists mostly of second person pronouns, mostly ty. Compared to English, the second person pronoun sees more limited use in communication between Poles, because it is not acceptable in relationships with a higher degree of formality. Wierzbicka (1985 : 170) even chooses to translate it as “thou,” in a reference to the archaic thou/you distinction, where the former pronoun showed less deference. Once Poles reach adulthood, some people will begin to address them with honorific titles Pan and Pani, which are analogous to “Mr.” and “Ms.,” or “Sir” and “Madam.” What follows is making all references to someone such addressed in the third person. Here is an example from the comments:

Miło, że Pani lubi dzieci.

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A natural-sounding translation would be: „It’s nice that you like children (Madam),” with the title at the end being optional. However, the Polish sentence doesn’t actually contain a pronoun, and if we are to highlight that fact and preserve the manner of referencing, the English sentence come out more like this:

“It is nice that the Madam likes children.”

This roundabout reference creates distance that is seen as desirable in more formal relations. Second-person pronouns would be too direct, and so they are generally incompatible with Pan/Pani and do not appear together.

In contrast, for Gardias the second person pronouns were not used at all. 61% of address terms used towards her consist of the honorific Pani, whereas the much more familiar first name and the intermediate Pani combined with the first name take up 10% each. One of the most endearing forms, the diminutive first name¹⁰, was only used in 5% of the cases.

Kaczorowska is 10 years younger than Gardias, but she is still an adult past the age in which ty stops becoming the default address term acceptable in any context. Furthermore, it is not always the case that an older adult will give a ty to a younger one, as many relations between mature people will operate on a reciprocal Pan/Pani basis regardless of the age difference. This means that the fact that she is 25 years old as opposed Gardias’ 35 does not entirely explain the dramatic difference in the address patterns.

Again, self-presentation is an important influence. The two women differ in the way they sign their post, Gardias’ full name being a fairly neutral approach, while Kaczorowska’s diminutive Aga being an invitation to a closeness. Kaczorowska also posts about her role in Klan, where she plays a character known by the name Bożenka, which is also a diminutive.

Kaczorowska started acting in the series in 1999, when she was only 8 years

10 For further discussion on diminutives as address terms, see the last section of this chapter: “Attitudes towards address terms.”

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old. Klan follows the daily affairs of a fictional family and mostly deals with mundane events and social relations. Kaczorowska’s veteran fans have known her through her silver-screen alter ego since her childhood and obtained voyeuristic access to private – if fictional – parts of her life. It is possible that by watching her character in this setting for years they have come to think of her as a friend or a family member.

On the other hand, although Gardias is also a TV personality, her work in the media is quite different. As a presenter in various television programs, she acts as the intermediary in the process of providing information in an institutionalized setting. This does not involve presenting herself in intimate situations and creates more distance between her and the viewers. Added to the fact that she has a husband and a child and refers to family life in her blog entries, it makes her more likely to be addressed as Pani.

Kaczorowska also receives some terms of endearment, such as kruszynka or ślicznotka. The positive affect of the first one is based on its reference to a small size (“crumb”), while the second one is a reference to her good looks (“pretty one”). This class of words is analogous to expressions such as “baby” or “honey.”

One of the comments addressed to her contains a swearword but was not deleted. However, the post is a compliment. The commenter tells Kaczorowska “you look fucking great” (zajebiscie wyglądasz). Another commenter seems to be angry at the nosy media which spread gossip about Kaczorowska’s alleged romantic relationships, saying:

niech każdy zajmie się w=swoim zyciem bo tak nie da sie zyć jak ktoś wpycha dupe tak gdzie nie potrzeba to wkurzające!

Everyone should just take care of their own business, because you can’t live like that, when someone sticks his ass where he shouldn’t, it pisses me off!

Both dupa (“ass”) and wkurzające (“something that pisses one off”) are expletives, fairly mild, but subject to deletion according to the rules of the

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website. These messages may have been left intact because despite the vulgarity they are not intended to befoul the good name of the blogger. On the contrary, they are actually supportive in tone, and the vulgarity is only used for emphasis when praising the celebrity, or to criticize someone who is unfriendly to the blog owner. Other examples of taboo language have been found in the comments and all of them follow this pattern.

3.1.5.3. Results: Liber the ex-rapper, Wieszczek the athletic actor

Table 9: References to Liber and Wieszczek (detailed) Address to Liber Number Address to

Wieszczek Number

Ty 21 Pan 10

Liber 16 Ty 9

Wy 6 ty 8

ty 5 Krzysztof 2

Marcin 5 stary 1

liber 1 chłop 1

stary 1 Krzyś 1

Generale 1 Pan

WIESZCZEK 1

TY 1 Wieszczek 1

LIBER 1 PAN 1

Total 60 Total 35

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Table 10: References to Liber and Wieszczek (categorized) Address to Liber % Address to

Wieszczek %

2^nd person

pronoun (ty) ^55%

2^nd person

pronoun (ty) ^49%

N 30% Pan 31%

FN 8% FN 6%

Other 7% Other 14%

Total 100% Total 100%

Age is certainly an important factor in establishing address, as illustrated by a user explicitly referencing it after choosing to call Wieszczek with ty instead of an honorific:

(jesteśmy zbyt młodzi żeby sobie „Paniować” – z góry przepraszam za zuchwałość ;) )

We are too young to call each other Pan and Pani – I apologize in advance for my audacity.

But despite the fact that Liber is a mature man and 3 years older than Wieszczek, not a single commenter addresses him with the honorific Pan, whereas that form constitutes 31% of address to Wieszczek. The difference is that Liber has gained fame as a hip-hop artist, and that subculture is known for its informality. Liber is the only person in this section to choose a nickname to name himself in the blog, and although he does not sign his posts, this still results in people addressing him with that nickname 30% of the time. Choosing nicknames is also customary among rap artists, to the point where it is the norm rather than an exception, illustrated by rapper’s Obie Trice’s line in one of his works: “Obie Trice, real name, no gimmicks.” Trice uses his actual name

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for his personality as a performer, and bringing attention to it as he did suggests it is a marked approach and not the default. Liber’s hip-hop roots could be enough to establish this sort of informal address, but his currently friendly and approachable image likely reinforces the trend further. The unceremonious character of rap culture may prioritize appropriately casual address regardless of other factor, but some speakers could conceivably feel distance when talking to a rapper who unlike Liber is menacing in his demeanor. In contrast to Liber’s nickname, Piotrowski’s real first name is used only 8% of the time. Honorifics are never added and his last name in any form is never used.

The address to Wieszczek is mixed: some speakers prefer to call him

“you,” while others use an honorific, but as was said before the two forms don’t appear in the same sentence. The difference can yet again be partially explained by the difference in profession. In addition, Wieszczek dedicates many of his posts to his athletic exploits, such as completing arduous races after undergoing demanding training. This appeal to physical prowess may enhance the projection of him as a mature masculine man, leading to a relatively greater frequency of honorific address. On the other hand, in some cases masculinity becomes more important than maturity, and the comment is highly informal, as in the following response to Wieszczek’s report about his preparations for an Ironman competition:

Masz jaja stary¹¹. powodzenie You’ve got balls, old man, good luck

Similarly to the English usage, the reference to testicles is not literal, but is an attribution of qualities such as confidence and courage. Hence the use of the expression is not limited to people who possess the appropriate genitals, but it nonetheless constitutes an association between the character traits and masculinity. Bourdieu (2001 : 12) assigns the association between male genitals and bravery to the “European tradition” as a whole.

11 The term stary literally means “old one,” but is used somewhat like “old boy”

used to be: an expression of bonding rather than a reference to actual age.

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Liber does present a somewhat gendered aspect of himself when he talks about one of his hobbies: fishing. This activity evokes the man-as-provider stereotype related to hunter-gatherer societies where men hunt and women gather. The relation to gender stereotypes is illustrated by an exchange between the commenters. First, the photos of the animals Liber caught prompt a female user to mention her own achievements in the sport:

No proszę , widzę że okazy całkiem całkiem ;) Ja jednak preferuje wody stojące :)

Wolę wędkować tradycyjnie na spławik i nawet mi to nieźle wychodzi bo zdobyłam tytuł Mistrzyni Juniorów Koła nr.18 :)

Well well, you got quite the catch :) But I prefer still waters. I like traditional bobber fishing better and I’m actually not bad at it, because I won the Junior Championship title of Club 18

Another user replies with a condescending “compliment,” referring to her gender:

naprawdę lubisz łowić?

Jak na kobietę, no no – szacun…

You really like to fish?

Considering you’re a woman, well well – respect…

Still, despite the masculine associations of fishing, it does not provide Liber with an opportunity to display his physique and it does not require the level of fitness Wieszczek’s athletic feats do. Indeed, as the comment above demonstrates, teenagers (and even children) can attempt some types of fishing with success. Wieszczek’s presentation therefore is more effective in creating the image of physically developed masculinity.

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