A Woman in the Election Campaign. Image Creation through Language against Stereotypes.

The thesis focuses on the analysis of the process of creating a political image in the course of an election campaign, offering a case study of Magdalena Ogórek's candidacy during the Polish presidential election of 2015. The analysis is preceded by a theoretical introduction which lays down the groundwork for subsequently reporting the empirical findings. The following central terms and concepts are covered: political marketing (especially in the context of post-1989 Poland), political image (with an emphasis on the process of its creation and the parties involved), political language (again, particularly in the context of contemporary Poland), and the notion of stereotype (both linguistic and non-linguistic, with an emphasis on stereotypes about women). The empirical results are reported in three sections which offer different perspectives on the phenomenon under scrutiny. The first part investigates how Magdalena Ogórek herself, her team and PR consultants created her image as a candidate. The second part presents an analysis of the influence that her political opponents had on her political image. The third and final part concerns itself with Magdalena Ogórek's media image, as created by the Polish media during the campaign. The empirical research is based on material collected from the website..