History Education in the Digital Age

Untitled

“…In relation to how history is narrated, research has shown that history is often narrated in a form that uses the national perspective as a more or less naturalised narrative frame (Berger & Conrad, 2015). As such, historical narratives are closely linked to matters of ethnicity and/or cultural homogeneity (Berger & Conrad, 2015;Carretero et al, 2012;Elmersjö, 2013;Giakoumis & Kalemaj, 2017;Kumar, 2002;Persson, 2016;Spjut, 2018). In this sense, history serves as a medium for legitimizing and constructing the nation state (E. J.…”

Ruptured imaginings amid emerging nationhood: The unsettled narrative of “unity in resistance” in South Sudanese history textbooks

“…Acknowledging the increasingly multifaceted and complex nature of the media that citizenries access and that may influence their perceptions, our analysis examines the national historical narratives around nationhood transmitted in these official educational media, emphasising their representations of the national self and the (internal and external) Other. In uncovering “efforts to create a usable past [to] serve political and identity needs” (Wertsch, 2002: 35) and illuminating the aspiration to a specific “imagined community” (Anderson, 2006) through history education, the study builds particularly on research into formal education as a constituent part of state‐led, top‐down nation‐building processes (Carretero et al, 2013). It complements work that has explored old and new manifestations of these processes in the Global North, most notably Europe as “the birthplace of the nation‐state and modern nationalism” (Brubaker, 1996: 1), and, more specifically, an expanding body of research on the experiences of relatively young states in the Global South, many of which have recently emerged from or continue to experience violent conflict (e.g.…”

Identifying stories of ‘us’: A mixed‐method analysis of the meaning, contents and associations of national narratives constructed by Americans

“…These include cultural products like historical monuments, exhibits and texts, as well as memorial practices like commemorations (Assmann, 2013). History education in schools provide a particularly powerful means of socialising individuals to a nationalistic account of the past (Carretero et al., 2013). These practices tend to promote a morally just image of the ingroup, whether that be as a victim, martyr or hero, which requires the denial or downplaying of shameful, unjust acts committed by the ingroup in the past (see Blight, 2002; Kurtiş et al., 2017).…”