Konstrukcja przyszłości w popularnych poradnikach psychologicznych (typu self-help)

Abstract

The construction of the future in popular psychological self-help books

In the paper I will discuss various ways of constructing the notion of the future in popular “bestselling” psychological self-help books sometimes referred to as “motivation” or “inspirational literature”. They are mainly Polish translations of English-language books by such authors as L. Buscaglia or R. Byrne. I will take into account both their linguistic and their cultural aspects.
I am interested primarily in the most important elements of the notion of the future in these works; in how this discourse is formulated through the choice of specific textual means; in what type of narrative accompanies it, in to what extent it is emotional or intellectual, directive, commissive or declarative; in the function of these texts in modern culture.