Abstract
The chapter focuses on the narratives of Saint Hedwig and Józef Piłsudski – two national heroes represented in Polish school historiography. The research aim is to analyze both the process of composing national history textbooks whose heroes represent a broader Polish ethnic-nationalist perspective and civic nationalism, as well as the symbiosis between church, education, and civil society. Critical Discourse Analysis was used to analyze semiotic data and texts related to Queen Jadwiga and Marshall Piłsudski to identify key problems of Polish discourse of national leaders in history textbooks. The concept of nationhood constructed through Jadwiga’s and Piłsudski’s heroism serves to define Polishness as a concept of a mighty, though permanently threatened nation. Two representations of Polishness seem to dominate the national discourse on heroism: one is an image of a glorious and powerful Poland, and the other is an expression of the instability and fragility of Poland’s existence. Placing both historiographical narratives in a broader context of Polish cultural and social change shows an incredible durability of the connection between national discourse and religious framework. Critical analysis also allows to speculate on the noticeable, though limited and perfunctory “Europeanizationt of the national heroism discourse in Poland.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Anderson, B. R. O. G. (1991). Imagined communities: Reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism. London: Verso.
Bentkowska-Sztonyk, Z., & Wach, E. (2010). Człowiek i jego cywilizacja. Podręcznik do klasy 2 [A man and his civilization. Textbook for the 2d grade]. Wroclaw: Wydawnictwo Edukacyjne Wiking.
Berger, P. L., & Luckmann, T. (1967). The social construction of reality. Garden City: Doubleday.
Biskupski, M. B. B. (2012). Independence day. Myth, symbol and the creation of Modern Poland. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Burnell, J. (2009). Polish Messianism in dialogue with Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Princeton Theological Monograph Series, Vol. 123, p. 294). Eugene: Pickwick Publications.
Chmura-Rutkowska, I., Głowacka-Sobiech, E., & Skórzyńska, I. (2013). Jadwiga Andegaweńska. Obraz króla/królowej w szkolnej narracji historycznej. In I. Chmura-Rutkowska, E. Głowacka-Sobiech, I. Skórzyńska (Eds.), Historia ludzi. Historia dla ludzi. Krytyczny wymiar edukacji historycznej [History of the people. History for the people. Critical dimensions of history education] (pp. 313–348). Kraków: Impuls.
Chmura-Rutkowska, I., Głowacka-Sobiech, E., & Skórzyńska, I. (2015). “Niegodne historii”? O nieobecności i stereotypowych wizerunkach kobiet w świetle podręcznikowej narracji historycznej w gimnazjum [“Unworthy of History”? On the Absence and Stereotypical Images of Women in Light of the Historical Narrative in Middle School Textbooks]. Poznań: Wydawnictwo Naukowe UAM.
Ciara, S., & Kulesza, R. (2009). W kalejdoskopie dziejów. Podręcznik do historii. Gimnazjum. Klasa 1 [In the kaleidoscope of history. History textbook. Lower secondary school. Grade 1]. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Juka.
Dolecki, R., J. Smoleński, J., & Gutowski, K. (2013). Po prostu historia. Szkoły ponadgimnazjalne. Zakres podstawowy [Simply history. Secondary schools. The basic program]. Warsaw: WSiP.
Fairclough, N. (2003). Analysing discourse. Textual analysis for social research. London: Routledge.
Grosby, S. (2005). Nationalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hackmann, J., & Lehti, M. (2012). Myth of Victimhood and Cult of Authenticity. Sacralizing the Nation in Estonia and Poland. In C. Raudvere, K. Stala, & T. S. Willert (Eds.), Rethinking the space for religion. New actors in Central and Southeast Europe on Religion, Authenticity and Belonging (pp. 126–162) Lund: Nordic Academic Press.
Halecki, O., & Gromada, T. V. (1991). Jadwiga of Anjou and the rise of East Central Europe. Boulder: Social Science Monographs.
Hobsbawm, E. (1983). Introduction: Inventing traditions. In E. Hobsbawm & T. Ranger (Eds.), The invention of tradition (pp. 1–14). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kowalewski, K., Kąkolewski, I., Plumińska- Mieloch, A., & Kulesza, R. (2009). Bliżej historii. Klasa 1 [Closer to history. Grade 1]. Warsaw: WSiP.
Kucharczyk, G., Milcarek, P., & Robak, M. (2010). Przez tysiąclecia i wielki. Klasa 2 [Through millennia and centuries. Grade 2]. Warsaw: WSiP.
Łazuga, W. (2002). Historia. Dzieje nowożytne i najnowsze 1815–1939. Podręcznik dla klasy III gimnazjum [History. The recent and modern history 1815–1939. Textbook for the 3d grade of lower secondary school]. Warsaw: Graf-Punkt.
Mills, S. (1995). Feminist stylistics. London: Routledge.
Plach, E. (2006). The clash of moral nations: Cultural politics in Piłsudski’s Poland, 1926–1935. Athens: Ohio University Press.
Roszak, S. (2010). Śladami przeszłości. Podręcznik do historii dla klasy drugiej gimnazjum [Traces of the past. History textbook for the 2d grade of lower secondary school]. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Nowa Era.
Sarot, M. (2001). Counterfactuals and the invention of religious traditions. In J. W. van Henten & A. Houtepan (Eds.), Religious identity and the invention of tradition (pp. 21–40). Assen: Van Gorcum.
Sierpowski, S. (1998). Historia najnowsza. 1918–1996 [Recent history. 1918–1996]. Warsaw: Graf-Punkt.
Taras, R. (2003). Poland’s Transition to a Democratic Republic: The Taming of the Sacred? In W. Safran (Ed.), The secular and the sacred. Nation, religion and politics (pp. 137–154). London: Frank Cass.
Thompson, J. B. (1990). Ideology and modern culture: Critical social theory in the eras of mass communication. Cambridge: Cambridge Polity Press.
Ustrzycki, J. (2011). Historia. Podręcznik do gimnazjum. 3 [History. Lower secondary school textbook. 3]. Gdynia: Wydawnictwo Pedagogiczne OPERON.
Wojciechowski, G. (2001). Historia. Podręcznik do gimnajzum. Razem przez wieki. Zrozumień przeszłość III [History. Lower secondary school textbook. Together through centuries. Understanding the past. III]. Poznan: Wydawnictwo Akra.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Hildebrandt-Wypych, D. (2017). Religious Nation or National Religion: Poland’s Heroes and the (Re) Construction of National Identity in History Textbooks. In: Zajda, J., Tsyrlina-Spady, T., Lovorn, M. (eds) Globalisation and Historiography of National Leaders. Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research, vol 18. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-0975-8_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-0975-8_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-024-0974-1
Online ISBN: 978-94-024-0975-8
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)