Conceptualisations of the notion of “power” in texts of the Polish Lutheran, Catholic and Orthodox discourse
The article is devoted to an analysis of the notion of “power” in texts of selected religious discourses. The broadly defined language of power includes a manner of conceptualising the notion that is sugested to readers as well as measures used to determine it. In religious discourses, transcendentally oriented, we can find specific meanings attributed to lexemes from the given semantic field. The author analyses synonymous nouns designating the notion of “power.” The study was quantitative and qualitative, and was conducted on a specialised body of texts of various genres and representing the Catholic, the Lutheran and the Orthodox discourse. The article presents the frequencies of each lexeme taking into account the different genres, and profiles which create discursive images of power in the various groups of texts. The analysis has demonstrated that notions appearing in the texts include “God’s power”, “the power of the Church” and “lay authorities.” The conceptualisations play similar roles in the three discourses and are used to define reality from the religious and ethical perspective.