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Southeast Europe in History Textbooks: A Variety of Selective Perceptions

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Nationhood and Politicization of History in School Textbooks

Abstract

The chapter addresses the findings of diverse textbook analyses resulting from a Georg Eckert Institute for International Textbook Research (GEI) project on Southeast Europe (2000–2009) and its related preliminary studies. It explores two perspectives: first, how Southeast Europe is portrayed in school textbooks from Western, Central, and Southern Europe, and, second, the narratives contained within history textbooks from Southeast Europe. In addition it also attempts to ascertain which epistemological interests dominate the analyses.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The Georg Eckert Institute for International Textbook Research webpage for the Project for the Co-ordination of Textbook Research, Development and Comparison in South-East Europe can be accessed at: http://www.gei.de/en/projects/completed-projects/project-for-the-co-ordination-of-textbook-research-development-and-comparison-in-south-east-europe.html.

  2. 2.

    See: von Beyme (1994), Offe (1994), Lienemann (2006, 35).

  3. 3.

    The theory conceives of “open-ended” processes of modernization, not as processes of “catching up” with a known and set goal, but rather as a drive towards change within the new system, linked to the (re)invention of a systemic self and genuine innovation.

  4. 4.

    A discussion of critiques of political transformation is in Giordano (2004, 9ff.). The points raised critically here are that (a) processes of societal change are characterized and themselves undergo shifts not only through the transformation itself, but also through the collective spaces of memory which have characterized the past; (b) the term “transformation,” in a similar manner to classical theories of modernization, is based on the fundamental idea of progress; and (c) East and Southeast Europe are viewed as if they were essentially deficient in terms of civilization.

  5. 5.

    See also: Štimac (2018).

  6. 6.

    See, for example: Mahner (2007, 66).

  7. 7.

    See also: Rutar (2007, 156).

  8. 8.

    See also: Kratochvíl, op.cit., 224.

  9. 9.

    See also: Fischer-Dardei and M.-Csczar (2007, 213).

  10. 10.

    It is important to note that multifaceted analyses of international interventions in the education sector have also been made within the GEI project on Southeast Europe. See: Dimou (2009a).

  11. 11.

    See also: Štimac (2017a, 33–59; 2017b, 99–127).

  12. 12.

    See also: Dimou (2009b, 165ff.).

  13. 13.

    In this context the discourse surrounding history books for the Serbian minority in the Republic of Croatia is particularly significant.

  14. 14.

    See also: Karge (2000a, b).

  15. 15.

    See also: Karge (2000b).

  16. 16.

    See also: Höpken (1999, 76).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Georg Eckert Institute for International Textbook Research, Brunswick, Germany

    Zrinka Štimac

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  1. Zrinka Štimac
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Correspondence to Zrinka Štimac .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    Gorana Ognjenović

  2. Norwegian Centre for Human Rights, Oslo, Norway

    Jasna Jozelić

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Štimac, Z. (2020). Southeast Europe in History Textbooks: A Variety of Selective Perceptions. In: Ognjenović, G., Jozelić, J. (eds) Nationhood and Politicization of History in School Textbooks. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-38121-9_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-38121-9_13

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