A disturbing view of intercultural communication: findings of a study into hate speech in Polish

Most theoretical and empirical studies concerning intercultural communication seem to neglect the fact that numerous interlocutors’ speech and nonverbal behaviour is intentionally impolite and motivated by their racist and/or xenophobic views, which becomes visible in contact with representatives of other cultures, nationalities or countries. Such speakers’ behaviour may take the form of physical attacks, while their linguistic performance may include verbal/nonverbal signs of their prejudiced stance. Linguistic performance which is motivated by aggressive nationalism, intolerance or discrimination is termed hate speech. The available scientific literature on this topic is scant, except for some studies fuelled by the theoretical assumptions of critical discourse analysis. There are apparently no clear and precise criteria what constitutes an act of verbal and nonverbal violence. The authors of this paper aim therefore at portraying characteristic features of hate speech in Polish on the basis of articles collected throughout 2014 and 2015 from newspapers, magazines and Internet sites. The analysis took place as part of the RADAR project devoted to conducting research on hate speech directed towards migrants in Europe. The findings indicate there is a wide repertoire of words and phrases that are visible in Polish journalism and which promulgate racial, national or ethnic hate.