Poland under Martial Law in Netflix’s 1983 as a Critique of Contemporary Polish Socio-Politics: An Intertextual Analysis

Abstract

The article presents an intertextual analysis of the first Polish Netflix-original series 1983 created and written by Joshua Long. The series portrays fictional, dystopian Poland as a totalitarian state in which martial law never ended and the communist party remains in power. The analysis uses pivotal events from the series to draw connections between fictional Poland under martial law and post-2015 Poland ruled by the Law and Justice party. Close critical analysis and comparison of political discourse and visual imagery reveal how the socio-political situation in Netflix’s 1983 echoes real-world concerns about contemporary Polish socio-politics. The series functions as an intertextual commentary on post-2015 Poland, in which the Law and Justice government’s actions revived existing memories of civil protests and state oppression under martial law in communist Poland.

Keywords:

• Netflix’s 1983
• martial law in Poland
• political discourse
• Law and Justice
• intertextuality
• Polish socio-politics

Acknowledgements

The idea for this article was first developed for a panel discussion on the 40th anniversary of martial law in Poland that took place on April 21, 2022 at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. I would like to thank fellow panelists Brian Porter-Szűcs, Łukasz Wodzyński, and moderator Kathryn Ciancia for a stimulating conversation that helped to shape this article.

Disclosure statement

The author reports there are no competing interests to declare.

Notes

1 The author would like to thank the three anonymous reviewers for their insightful critique and useful feedback that helped improve this article. Any shortcomings are, naturally, my own.

2 All script lines cited in this article are sourced from an external site, unrelated to Netflix.

3 Unless otherwise noted, all translations from Polish are mine.

4 ZOMO (Zmotoryzowane Odwody Milicji Obywatelskiej), or Motorised Reserves of the Citizens’ Militia in English, was a paramilitary force used by the government to crush protests and civil disobedience in communist Poland.