Date: 2009
Type: Article
European identity and external others in history textbooks (1950–2005)
Journal of educational media, memory, and society, 2009 Vol. 1 No., 2, pp. 60-96
CHALLAND, Benoît, European identity and external others in history textbooks (1950–2005), Journal of educational media, memory, and society, 2009 Vol. 1 No., 2, pp. 60-96
- https://hdl.handle.net/1814/42228
Retrieved from Cadmus, EUI Research Repository
This article argues that the symbolic borders of Europe and the existence of external Others have been at times more important than Europe's center or its actual physical boundaries, especially during the first decades after the foundation of the European Communities. Analyzing textual and visual sources taken from some ninety French, Italian, and German history textbooks published between 1950 and 2005, the various sequences in which European integration has been constructed are highlighted. Communism, the first external Other, provided the first minimum common denominator for a nascent political Europe. It was not until the end of the Cold War that a projection of a distinct European identity appeared. Nevertheless, the role of new external Other(s) remains important for the evolution of the discourse of a European identity. This article draws attention to the Others, seeking to embed the Others' perspective in narratives of Europe.
Cadmus permanent link: https://hdl.handle.net/1814/42228
Full-text via DOI: 10.3167/jemms.2009.010204
ISSN: 2041-6938; 2041-6946
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