The purpose of this study was to identify the way in which history textbooks from the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s used for grades 7-9 depicts World War II from a eurocentric perspective. A qualitative textual analysis was used to achieve the purpose. Three history textbooks from each decade was included in the study, also comparisons have been made to see any changes over time. The study used John M. Hobson matrix describing how the Occident and the Orient are defined from a eurocentric perspective. In the matrix, there are two different sides for the eurocentric discourse to reveal itself. One is "The dynamic west" that includes values such as "civilized", "democratic" and "restrained". The second part is "The unchanging east" where values such as "wild/savage," "corrupt" and "chaotic" are included. One result from the study, among other things, is that the books from the 1980s depict Germany as an actor affecting values in "The dynamic west". This is not the case in the books from the other studied decades. USA is the most clearly depicted country from a dynamical west perspective during all studied decades. The former colonial empires France and Britain are depicted either neutral or so concerns the countries values for "The dynamic west". There is no book that places France and Britain on the other side of the matrix. Japan is the country that is mostly depicted in a way that can be linked to "The unchanging east" comparing to the other countries in the study. This is the case for all studied decades. The study also concluded that there are larger differences between the individual books the way in which stories about the Second World War are eurocentric than it is between decades. The conclusion from the study is that teachers should be alert concerning of the pupils development of history perspective and identity, given that the books that the study has analyzed depicts the Second World War from a eurocentric perspective. Keywords: World War II, Eurocentrism, The dynamic west, The unchanging east, Textual analysis
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-226067 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Stridh, Henrik |
| Publisher | Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för pedagogik, didaktik och utbildningsstudier |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
| Relation | Examensarbete vid Institutionen för pedagogik, didaktik och utbildningsstudier ; 2014vt00853 |
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