Confronting "dark" colonial pasts. A historical analysis of practices of representation in Belgian and Congolese schools, 1945-2015.

Autor/inn/en	Bentrovato, Denise; Nieuwenhuyse, Karel van
Titel	Confronting "dark" colonial pasts. A historical analysis of practices of representation in Belgian and Congolese schools, 1945-2015.
Quelle	In: Paedagogica historica, 56 (2020) 3, S. 293-320Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Link als defekt meldenVerfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	online; gedruckt; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0030-9230; 1477-674X
DOI	10.1080/00309230.2019.1572203
Schlagwörter	Bildungsprozess; Historische Bildungsforschung; Bildungsgeschichte; Belgien; Demokratische Republik Kongo; Kolonialismus; Bildungsprozess; Kolonialmacht; Postkolonialismus; Historische Bildungsforschung; Schulgeschichte; Lehrwerkanalyse; Geschichte (Histor); Kolonialismus; Kolonialmacht; Postkolonialismus; 20. Jahrhundert; 21. Jahrhundert; Belgien; Demokratische Republik Kongo
Abstract	Over half a century since the last wave of political decolonisation, the handling of "dark" colonial histories remains topical. Influenced by the postcolonial turn, this study aims to examine, from a novel historical and comparative perspective, evolving textbook representations of Belgian colonialism and its legacy in Belgian and Congolese school history education since 1945. Its diachronic and synchronic narrative analysis identifies continuity and change, and convergences and divergences, in perspectives, emphases, and silences in textbook narratives. Pinpointing the influence of colonialism and postcolonial discourse on educational practices of representation, the study explores the sometimes contradictory influences on these practices of politics, academic historiography, popular historical culture, and processes of educationalisation. The analysis illuminates parallel shifts in the two countries from triumphalist colonialist ideologies towards more critical postcolonial perspectives. In relation to educational practices of representation, often aimed at socialising citizens into worldviews sanctioned by the political dispensation of the time, the traces of these shifts have reflected dominant societal discourses while being largely at odds with historiographical advances. These dynamics are evidence of a slow process of decolonisation of existing power structures and knowledge systems which only gradually gave way to a postcolonial world still in the making.
Erfasst von	Leibniz-Institut für Bildungsmedien \| Georg-Eckert-Institut (GEI), Braunschweig
Update	2021/2