POLISH JOURNAL OF ENGLISH STUDIES Journal of the Polish Association for the Study of English (PASE) No. 4.1 Guest Editor Prof. Katarzyna Molek-Kozakowska Polish Association for the Study of English Warsaw 2018 Publisher: Polish Association for the Study of English ul. Hoża 69, 00-681 Warszawa Editorial Board: Editors-in-Chief: Prof. Jacek Fabiszak, Prof. Krzysztof Fordoński Heads of Thematic Sections: Prof. Danuta Gabryś-Barker (Applied Linguistics), Prof. Henryk Kardela (Linguistics), Prof. Ryszard Wolny (Studies in Culture), Prof. Jacek Fabiszak (Studies in Literature), Prof. Jadwiga Uchman (Studies in Literature) Managing Editor: Dr Anna Wołosz-Sosnowska Language Editor: Dr Marcin Tereszewski Technical Editors: Dr Weronika Szemińska, Dr Łukasz Karpiński Advisory Board: Prof. J. Lawrence Guntner (Technische Universität Braunschweig) Prof. Nicoleta Cinpoes (University of Worcester) Prof. Jan Jędrzejewski (University of Ulster) Prof. Adriana Biedroń (Pomeranian University, Słupsk) Prof. Cem Cam (Cykrova University) Prof. Jean-Marc Dewaele (Birkbeck College, University of London) Prof. Hossein Nassaji (University of Victoria) Prof. Sarah Mercer (University of Graz) Prof. Terence Odlin (Ohio State University) Prof. Rebecca Oxford (University of Maryland) Prof. David Singleton (University of Pannonia) Prof. Jorge Bastos da Silva (University of Porto) Prof. Séllei Nóra (Debrecen University) Prof. Irene Gilsenan Nordin (Dalarna University) Prof. Bożena Rozwadowska (University of Wrocław) Reviewers: Prof. R. Bartnik, Prof. K. Bazarnik, Prof. D. Brady, Prof. D. Drewniak, Prof. L. Drong, Prof. J. Fabiszak, Prof. M. Fabiszak, Prof. L. Gruszewska-Blaim, Prof. P. Jędrzejko, Prof. A. Kiełkiewicz-Janowiak, Prof. B. Klonowska, Prof. D. Krzyżaniak, Prof. E. Kujawska-Lis, Prof. R. Kusek, Prof. E. Lorek-Jezińska, Prof. Z. Maszewski, Prof. D. Oramus, Prof. B. Piątek, Prof. E. Piechurska-Kuciel, Prof. A. Rzepa, Prof. A. Setecka, Prof. M. Sokołowska-Paryż, Prof. P. Stachura, Prof. J. Uchman, Prof. A. Wicher, Prof. R. W. Wolny, Dr A. Bendrat, Dr Ch. Berberich, Dr K. Burzyńska, Dr W. Drąg, Dr D. Guttfeld, Dr A.-L. Iancu, Dr U. Kizelbach, Dr S. Kozioł, Dr A. Kwiatkowska, Dr M. Lachman, Dr A. Rogos-Hebda, Dr A.-K. Schneider, Dr S. Shurma, Dr T. Skirecki, Dr P. Śniedziewski, Dr M. Świetlicki, M. Jošić-Milinović, MA Cover Design: Dr Łukasz Karpiński © Copyright by Polish Association for the Study of English (PASE) Contents From the Editor ....................................................................................................... 5 The Communication of Luxury: A Semiotic Analysis of a Luxury Brand’s Perfume Commercial .............................................................................................. 7 Brygida Hurek Evolution of the Mary Sue Character in Works by the Wattpad Social Platform Users ....................................................................................................... 35 Patrycja Biniek The American Tradition of Social Satire in South Park Television Series ...... 57 Przemysław Komsa Online Grooming as a Manipulative Social Interaction: Insights from Textual Analysis .................................................................................................... 79 Mariia Horskykh Representations of Polish Migrants in British Media from the Perspective of “Moral Panic” Theory ........................................................................................ 113 Alicja Portas 27th Annual Conference of the Polish Association for the Study of English Conference Report .............................................................................................. 143 Authors’ Biodata ................................................................................................. 145 From the Editor Dear Friends and Readers, Academic Twitter has recently exploded with a heated debate on the condition and character of “young people today,” with a special focus on young adults studying at universities. The majority of complaints addressed the impression that students today tend to be disillusioned and cynical: they seem to do the min- imum of work and demand the maximum of rewards. They are neither mature nor literate individuals who would be interested in the modern world, save the very narrow subject they have chosen to study, presumably to qualify quickly and get a well-paying job. Worst of all, they are not critical thinkers and can be easily manipulated. Needless to say, there are also many mis- conceptions about students of the humanities and social sciences. In terms of academia, the stereotype is that they are incapable of hard work and reason- ing; they have to be spoon-fed unit content; they do not know what they want to do when they graduate. On the other side of the debate there are strong voices defending young people as victims of certain circumstances: a degraded schooling system, media technologies that have undermined human relationships and diminished the trust in science (through fake news and conspiracy theories), a precarious job market and the highest ever mortgage rates that make it difficult to pros- per, a polluted and depleted environment that is on its way to a catastrophic climate change… This volume is devoted exclusively to showcasing the work of young people, who, despite being “victims of certain circumstances,” have proven that they are not strangers to doing critical reading, to analyzing socially relevant issues, to delving into history, theory and methodology, and to pres- enting their reasoning and conclusions in a lucid and academically appropriate way. The five articles collected in this volume have been methodically and metic- ulously developed from diploma papers submitted in a partial fulfillment for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 2019 following a few rounds of internal and external reviewing. The students whose work is publicized here graduated from English in Public Communication (some with honors) and English Phi- lology. The two programs are offered by the Institute of Linguistics (formerly Institute of English) of University of Opole and are distinguished by different foci: whereas EPC students explore the domains of culture, communication, journalism and public relations, EP students follow a more “classical” philo- logical course of literature, linguistics, culture and history. The articles in this collection explore contemporary issues based on a vari- ety of types of data, both textual and visual: documentaries, press coverage, literary texts, a video commercial, an interview, a cartoon series. In the process of making their argument, the authors demonstrate a proficient application of a selected recognized methodological perspective: content analysis, semiotic analysis, discourse analysis, genre analysis, ideological criticism, literary criticism and film/narrative analysis. These students, now graduates, show that they have indeed been involved in contemporary political debates and are aware of the dilemmas that arise from the dominance of media- saturated consumer societies and the preponderance of technological advance- ments that make it increasingly difficult to follow the well-trodden intellectual paths of the previous generations of commentators and researchers. As a guest editor of this issue, I hope that the readers of the journal will find these articles interesting and insightful, and will appreciate the attempts of these junior scholars to contribute to our understanding of the phenomena they have chosen to explore. Please mind that there are their very first indepen- dent published projects. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all the reviewers who helped me to guide these young people through the meanders of academic publishing and gave them constructive advice and professional assistance much beyond the scope of what is considered to be routine peer review. You are the mentors who continue to ensure that the youngest generations do not end up the way the above Twitter conver- sation participants described them! Katarzyna Molek-Kozakowska The Communication of Luxury: A Semiotic Analysis of a Luxury Brand’s Perfume Commercial Brygida Hurek University of Opole Abstract: This study explores the mode of communication of luxury in the case of Chanel. It includes a review of theories regarding the cultural concept of luxury. It discusses the psychological, historical, cultural and sociological aspects of luxury in order to explain its dynamics and significance. It also elucidates the discourse of advertising, and the practice of luxury branding and communication. The methodological base for the study is semiotics with its structuralist and post-structuralist approaches to meaning, and its emphasis on the complexity of cultural systems through discourse. The analytical section is an in-depth description of a Chanel commercial, deconstructing the com- ponent parts according to semiotic and discursive categories. It offers an interpretation of the commercial’s intended (preferred) reading concerning this particular luxury brand of perfume and conclusions regarding the distin- guished modes of communicating luxury. Keywords: luxury, commercial, communication, meaning, brand, value 1. Introduction The luxury market is currently enormous as it rose to an estimated value of $1.2 trillion around the world in 2017; however, it has experienced a consid- erable upsurge since the 1990s. In the period between 1996 and 2017 it rose 6% annually on average (D’Arpizio, Levato, Kamel and de Montgolfier 2017). What is more, the