The textbook's nation : How is the Greek nation portrayed in the main history textbook of the 6th grade of elementary schools in Greece, especially with regards to the Turkish nation?

Abstract

In this study I set out to evaluate the history schoolbook taught in grade 6 of the elementary schools in Greece, In the contemporary years with regards to the national identity it proposes for Greece, the relation between Greece and Turkey and the kind of narrative it suggests. The focus of the research lies in the third and last section of the book on the period after the creation of an independent Greek state since 1830. The theoretical framework includes the significance of stories, the writing of history as a story, the special culture of a nation as an imagined community and the role of schoolbooks within the boarders of a politically independent nation. The methodological tool consists of both quantitative and qualitative methods and the approach of the verbal text under analysis is guided by questions concerning the main themes of the book, the focus of the Greco-Turkish relation and a narrative of good and bad actors. In the discussion of the findings I raise the criticism on the book as being nation centric, showing a negative relation to Turkey and proposing a rigid national identity for the nation state of Greece. The wider implications from a peace and conflict perspective point to the inability of the particular schoolbook to adapt to a more cooperative and less national trend, as well as to the promotion of a negative image towards Turkey.