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War, Nation, Memory International Perspectives on World War II in School History Textbooks Edited by: Keith A. Crawford, Newcastle University, Australia Stuart J. Foster, University of London |
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2007. A volume in the series: Research in Curriculum and Instruction. Series Editor(s): O. L. Davis, University of Texas - Austin The Second World War stands as the most devastating and destructive global conflict in human history. More than 60 nations representing 1.7 billion people or three quarters of the world’s population were consumed by its horror. Not surprisingly, therefore, World War II stands as a landmark episode in history education throughout the world and its prominent place in school history textbooks is almost guaranteed. As this book demonstrates, however, the stories that nations choose to tell their young about World War II do not represent a universally accepted “truth” about events during the war. Rather, wartime narratives contained in school textbooks typically are selected to instil in the young a sense of national pride, common identify, and shared collective memory. To understand this process War, Nation, Memory describes and evaluates school history textbooks from many nations deeply affected by World War II including China, France, Germany, Japan, USA, and the United Kingdom. It critically examines the very different and complex perspectives offered in many nations and analyses the ways in which textbooks commonly serve as instruments of socialisation and, in some cases, propaganda. Above all, War, Nation, Memory demonstrates that far from containing “neutral” knowledge, history textbooks prove fascinating cultural artefacts consciously shaped and legitimated by powerful ideological, cultural, and sociopolitical forces dominant in the present. REVIEWS: "Authors Keith A. Crawford and Stuart J. Foster examine difficulties involved in history education in their 2008 publication: War, Nation, Memory: International Perspectives on World War II in School History Textbooks. They begin with the premise that textbooks are problematic. History texts fragment and anaesthetize the past, representing it superficially and without sufficient clarity." "Certainly, War, Nation, Memory takes the position from the start that war—cruel, harsh, but inevitable—is the stuff that builds nations. The national identity and social cohesion of a group of people are galvanized by common memories. Wars, which affect populations profoundly and in complex ways, are lynchpins. States, which shape and socialize people, use these collective memories to build a citizenry. “Americanization”, for example, sanctions particular truths and perspectives at the expense of others. These authorized truths, perspectives, and memories are particularly stressed in the schools, where new and immigrant populations are made into citizens. Crawford and Foster, then, by examining textbooks from a cross-cultural perspective, are actually evaluating at the different themes, issues, and problems of interpretation comprising citizenship policy in different countries." ~ Theodore Christou, Education Review | ||
