Defensive Purism in the North-Eastern Borderlands. Selected Issues

Abstract The aim of the article is to illustrate, on the basis of selected texts of a correctness nature, the specificity of individual linguistic awareness. The subject of the analysis are Our Mistakes in Speech and Writing Committed and Provincialisms by Aleksander Walicki and Paznau praudu – a text attributed to Walicki. The article adopts Maćkowiak’s original research method, i.e. a descriptive reconstruction of linguistic awareness was used, which allows for reflection on language and its use combined with the analysis of one’s own individual methods of linguistic processing. The term “purism” in relation to the Polish language in the north-eastern borderlands manifests itself in the “purification of speech” from specific manifestations of foreignness, mainly through eliminatory procedures. This type of attitude of Polish users towards the language in relation to the north-eastern borderlands is referred to as “defensive purism”. Analysed writings represent engaged, charged writing, often exposing the writer’s individual position towards the linguistic and cultural phenomena discussed. The subject describing the linguistic and cultural reality in the northeastern borderlands as a purist-rigorist stands guard over the preservation of Polish distinctiveness, and treats Polishness symbolically as a “defense dam” against the influence of foreign cultures and languages.