Paper short abstract

Polish economic migrants discourses were shaped by a dominant narrative of hard work and a necessity of constant saving. The new post-enlargement wave of migrants created a new kind of a dominant narrative based on a notion of a normal life, when element of pleasure is part and parcel of everyday behaviour and it is not perceive as luxury or indulgence.

Paper long abstract

There is a significant difference between the previous waves of Polish migrants and the massive outflow of people from Poland after the EU expansion. So far, Polish economic migrants discourses were shaped by a dominant narrative of hard work and a necessity of constant saving. The new post-enlargement wave of migrants created a new kind of a dominant narrative based on a notion of a normal life, when element of pleasure is part and parcel of everyday behaviour and it is not perceive as luxury or indulgence.

The data come from entries on an internet forum triggered by newspaper reports and articles in the on-line version of 'Gazeta Wyborcza' between 2004 and 2009. Anchoring the study in narrative and discourse analyses, I shall investigate topics of pleasure and lines of argumentation of forum participants.