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This book highlights and examines the role of the textbook in legitimising established political and social orders. It analyses the way in which the 'other' is presented in school textbooks, focusing on a number of countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, and argues that the role of textbooks in developing and maintaining a national identity should be afforded greater critical attention. Textbooks can help form national identities by developing a society's collective memory; this might involve a historical narrative which may be self-contradictory or even fabricated to a certain extent, including myths, symbols and collective memories that divide "us" from "them", and ultimately resulting a dichotomy between the Self and the Other. As well as addressing a range of theoretical questions relating to the study of textbooks generally, the volume also covers a broad spectrum of Middle Eastern states and societies, with contributions from Turkey, Iran, Egypt, Cyprus,Lebanon, Iraq, Kurdistan, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, Israel and Palestine. It will be essential reading for researchers and students working in the fields of Education, Sociology and History, particularly those with an interest in national identities in the MENA region.
List of contents
Chapter 1. Views of Others in School Textbooks: A Theoretical Analysis (Introduction); Samira Alayan & Elie Podeh. Chapter 2. When Europe Meets the Middle East: Constructing Collective Identities in Social Studies Textbooks for a Globalising World; Falk Pingel. Chapter 3. Palestine: The Unseen Conflict over the Hidden Curriculum; Nathan Brown. Chapter 4. Zionism as the Other in Curricula and Textbooks of the Palestinian National Authority; Samira Alayan.- Chapter 5; Textbooks for the State and State-Religious Jewish Sector in Israel; Yael Teff-Seker. Chapter 6. History Textbooks for Arab Schools in Israel as a Reflection of Political and Social Development in Israel and the Middle East: The Balfour Declaration and the 1948 Warpan Hana Shemesh (Rash). Chapter 7. A Distorted Other: Jews, Israel and the Arab-Israeli Conflict in Egyptian School Textbooks; Elie Podeh. Chapter 8. Self and Others in Jordanian Textbooks 1964-2010: A Reflection of Jordan's National Identity Challenge; Iris Fruchter-Ronen.- Chapter 9. Religious Pluralism or Multiplied Simple-Mindedness? School Textbooks for Religious Education in Lebanon; Jonathan Kreiner. Chapter 10. Self-Identity and Others in Tunisian Textbooks; Arnon Groiss. Chapter 11. Narratives and Discourse on National Identity in Moroccan Textbooks; Katherine Maye-Saidi.- Chapter 12. Cyprus: National Identity and Images of Self and Others in History Textbooks; Areti Demosthenous.- Chapter 13. Who are we? Identity Discourses in Iraqi Textbooks before and after 2003; Achim Rohde. Chapter 14. National Identity, Self-images and Picturing the Other in History School Textbooks of the Kurdistan Regional Government; Sherko Kirmanj. Chapter 15. Turkey: Greeks and Armenians in History Textbooks (1930-2010); Medi Nahmiyaz.
About the author
Elie Podeh is Professor of the Department of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, and President of the Middle East and Islamic Studies Association of Israel (MEISAI). His research interests include Middle Eastern history, politics and education.
Samira Alayan is Senior Lecturer and Researcher at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel and Lecturer and Teacher Trainer at the David Yellin Teacher College, Jerusalem, Israel. Her research interests include education in conflict societies as well as textbooks and identities in the Middle East.
Summary
This book highlights and examines the role of the textbook in legitimising established political and social orders. It analyses the way in which the ‘other’ is presented in school textbooks, focusing on a number of countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, and argues that the role of textbooks in developing and maintaining a national identity should be afforded greater critical attention. Textbooks can help form national identities by developing a society’s collective memory; this might involve a historical narrative which may be self-contradictory or even fabricated to a certain extent, including myths, symbols and collective memories that divide “us” from “them”, and ultimately resulting a dichotomy between the Self and the Other. As well as addressing a range of theoretical questions relating to the study of textbooks generally, the volume also covers a broad spectrum of Middle Eastern states and societies, with contributions from Turkey, Iran, Egypt, Cyprus,Lebanon, Iraq, Kurdistan, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, Israel and Palestine. It will be essential reading for researchers and students working in the fields of Education, Sociology and History, particularly those with an interest in national identities in the MENA region.
