Designing History in East Asian Textbooks: Identity Politics and Transnational Aspirations

by Gotelind Mueller (Editor)

Overview

This book analyses the efforts throughout East Asia to deploy education for purposes of political socialization, and in particular in order to shape notions of identity. The chapters also examine the trend of ‘common textbook initiatives’, which have recently emerged in East Asia with the aim of helping to defuse tensions arguably fuelled by existing practices of mutual (mis)representation. These are analysed in relation to the East Asian political context, and compared with previous and ongoing endeavours in other parts of the world, particularly Europe, which have been keenly observed by East Asian practitioners. Written by a group of international education experts, chapters discuss the enduring focus on the role of curricula in inculcating homogenous visions of the national self, and indeed homogenized visions of significant 'others'.

Including contributions from scholars and curriculum developers involved personally in the writing of national and multi-national history textbooks this book will be of interest to students and scholars of Asian education, Asian history and comparative education studies.

Gotelind Müller is Professor of Chinese Studies, University of Heidelberg, Germany

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415855587
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	04/15/2013
Series:	Routledge Studies in Education and Society in Asia
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Gotelind Müller is Professor of Chinese Studies at the University of Heidelberg, Germany.

Table of Contents

Introduction Part I The Ambivalence of National Self/Selves: Historical shifts 1 The Predicament of Compiling East Asia Schoolbooks 2 A Divided "Self" and an Overwhelming "Other"? 3 Learning to Love the Motherland 4 Telling Histories of an Island Part II Designing "Self" and "Other" in School Textbooks: Practical Considerations 5 Teaching "the Others’ History" in Chinese Schools 6 New Curriculum Reform and History Textbook Compilation in Contemporary China 7 The "Others" in Chinese History Textbooks 8 Rewriting history in a textbook in contemporary Japan 9 The Construction of "Self" and Western and Asian "Others" in Contemporary Japanese Civics and Ethics Textbooks Part III Self-Assertion, Revisionism and Historical Reconciliation: Conflicts and Perspectives 10 The "Tokyo Trial View of History" and its Revision in Contemporary Japan / East Asia 11 History Conflicts and Dialogues between Korea and Japan 12 Historical Reconciliation between Germany and Poland as seen from a Japanese Perspective 13 Mediating Textbook Conflicts

Editorial Reviews

"This book makes an important contribution to the on-going multi- and transnational research into history education and the politics of history in East Asia by combining a refined approach to this critical topic with an up-to-date overview of the seminal issues in the field." - Torsten Weber; Monumenta Serica 59 (2011)

"This edited volume gives an excellent overview on the present state of schoolbook discussions in East Asia from a national and multilateral perspective; at the same time, it presents multiple ways of solving the problem of how to revise traditional narratives in school textbooks, e.g. by a transnational perspective, to further historical reconciliation via history education." - Eckhardt Fuchs, Vice director of the Georg Eckert Institute for Textbook Studies, Braunschweig; Geschichte heute (2012).

"The volume remedies an important lacuna for historians, textbook scholars, political scientists and all those interested in pursuing the goal of deescalating historical textbook didactics, and those concerned with potentials of conflict in the realm of educational materials." - Ylva Monschein, Chinese Studies, University of Munich; Asien (2012).

"In this book which incorporates contributions not only from scholars but also from people involved in textbook writing and curriculum reform, the role of History Education in the process of political socialization all over East Asia is discussed from a historical perspective... Different from a mere collection of academic papers, this book is very thorough in its overall structure and will serve as basic reference for studies of history consciousness and history textbook problems in East Asia."- Prof. SHIBA Nobuhiro, Tokyo University; Rekishigaku kenkyû (2012).

"The need for and the potential for a memorial reconciliation among Japan, China, and Korea are effectively put into perspective in Müller’s work, whose weighty contributions offer a detailed and painstaking analysis of the aspirations and identity politics at play in the region." - Yves Russell, EHESS, Paris; China Perspectives (2013).

From the Publisher