ZMARTWYCHWSTANIE ŚMIECIARZY". INTERAKCJONIZM SYMBOLICZNY I NARRACYJNE TRAJEKTORIE BIOGRAFICZNE W TEKSTACH POLSKICH MIGRANTÓW PRZEBYWAJĄCYCH W WIELKIEJ BRYTANII I IRLANDII PO ROKU 2004 1

• Published in: Przekładaniec : a journal of literary translation no. 32; pp. 163 - 175
• Main Author: Ślósarska, Joanna
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Polish
• Published: Kraków Jagiellonian University-Jagiellonian University Press 01.01.2016
• Subjects: Blumer, Herbert George (1900-1987); Identity; Migration; Narratives; Noncitizens; Symbolism; United Kingdom > UK; Ireland; Poland
• ISSN: 1425-6851; 1689-1864
• DOI: 10.4467/16891864PC.16.010.6550

The paper analyses selected literary texts from the period 2004-2012, typical of a larger corpus of works created by Polish migrants. Narratives, plots and lyrical monologues are regarded from the perspective of symbolic communication (Blumer), representing the dynamics of biographical trajectories (Schütze). The hypotheses formulated here refer to critical situations in which Polish migrants operate. These situations are determined by such processes as: 1) forced falsification of social roles in the new professional environment and, consequently, the need for a redefinition of individual and community identity; 2) communication barriers related to the lack of sufficient language competence; 3) lack or loss of means of subsistence and strategies for acquiring material goods; 4) separation from family and friends, loss of emotional support, and therefore a strong focus on reconstruction of emotional ties; 5) the need to respect and understand cultural differences in a multi-ethnic space. Critical situations portrayed in the narratives are presented by Polish authors in both positive (discovery of new opportunities, departure, change of language) and negative light (loss of security, livelihood, family, friends). In the narratives, the choice between various modes of action is interpreted in the pragmatic context in terms of effectiveness of fight for survival, but within the limits set by the migrants' axiological individual identity, especially pride, honour and dignity. The primary function of the self-narration used by Polish migrants is to reconstruct personal identity in the figure of the speaking subject. Self-narration is analysed in the paper as a form of organization of experience, a symbolic recreation of the order of existence when faced with a stream of chaotic, destructive events. Underlined are the action schemes characteristic of the texts of Polish migrants that represent the transition from transactional, investment concepts of biography to formulation of the project of transformational, creative and subjectified biography.