Othering and the construction of West - the description of two historical events in Finnish school textbooks.

Autor/in	Mikander, Pia
Titel	Othering and the construction of West - the description of two historical events in Finnish school textbooks.
Quelle	In: Critical literacy, 6 (2012) 1, S. 31-45 PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Link als defekt meldenVerfügbarkeit
Beigaben	Literaturangaben S. 42-45
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1753-0873
Schlagwörter	Schulbuch; Geschichtsunterricht; 11. September 2001; Finnland; Westliche Welt
Abstract	The core values stated in the Finnish curriculum, such as democracy, human rights and equality are supportive of a cosmopolitan view on education. This means respecting the equal value of all human beings and challenging prejudiced conceptions, as opposed to constructing Westerners as superior to other people. The article uses discourse theory analysis to examine othering and the construction of West in history textbook articulations of two events. The Ancient Greek battle of Thermopylae is described as the first battle for Western values. 2500 years later, in the descriptions of the events of 9/11 and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, there is a similar discursive approach to the war, defending Western values. The construction of West as superior is examined through describing Western lives as more valuable (grievable) than others and by essentially connecting the West with good values, while hiding Western violence. Furthermore, the construction of Muslims or Arabs as the essential enemy of the West is explored. Some discursive differences between the articulations in the books appear, some clearly othering and some more cosmopolitan. Overall however, the West mostly stands for only good values. Western violence is hidden and prejudiced attitudes towards Muslims are visible.
Erfasst von	Leibniz-Institut für Bildungsmedien \| Georg-Eckert-Institut (GEI), Braunschweig
Update	2018/2