Abstract: | Values and valuation are perceived to be discursive phenomena realised both on the level of the grammatical structure as well as on the level of lexical selection. Therefore, values and valuation are assumed to be present in every linguistic expression. Hence, it seems possible to apply investigative methods of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) in their study, as it is the CDA which views discourse as a collection of socially constructed values.
The focus of the current paper is on the study of just one aspect that CDA investigates, namely that of values and valuation as markers of the national identity. In order to exemplify their use for this purpose, it has been decided to investigate the Press discussion of a single political topic, namely the EU enlargement in 2004. Therefore, the corpus of the Press release consisting of some 30.000 words has been gathered. In the course of its analysis, all the expressions have been divided according to the criterion of national origin. Then, expressions introducing values and valuation have been assigned to the different spheres of life to which they point. Consequently, the significance of values and valuation which are used for the purpose of expressing national identity is presented and discussed with reference to selected examples. |
