Between sociology and linguistics: an analysis of online discourses on apostasy
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26485/PS/2025/74.4/1Keywords:
apostasy, symbolic power, Catholic Church, discourse analysis, corpus linguisticsAbstract
The aim of this paper is to investigate online discourses on apostasy in Poland, focusing on the Facebook group Apostazja 2020, where users discuss the process of formally leaving the Catholic Church. This study integrates sociological and linguistic perspectives to analyse how apostasy is presented in public discourse.
We apply Pierre Bourdieu’s theoretical framework, incorporating the concepts of field, capital, symbolic domination, symbolic power, habitus and doxa to examine how apostasy challenges the dominant position of the Catholic Church in Poland. In the analysis, we employ two complementary approaches: Corpus Linguistics and the Discourse-Historical Approach (DHA), to analyse the approaches and strategies used by the apostates to construct counter-discourses that redefine their position in the religious field and field of power.
The analysis emphasises the approaches employed by the apostates to challenge the symbolic power of the Catholic Church. In the narratives of the apostates, the Church exercises its arbitrary power by taking advantage of its ability to change the rules and generate formal difficulties for the apostates. The struggle to reclaim power is mainly verbalised through nomination and predication strategies in discourse, e.g., by naming the priests and themselves, the apostates attempt to impose their own rules. The orthodox, normalised view on the Church is challenged and the high symbolic capital of the priests is renegotiated in the struggle within and outside of the religious field. Finally, unless provoked by third parties, the apostates do not discuss the issues related to God and faith: their focus is solely on the Church as an institution.
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