Colonialism - a European Site of Memory. Coming to Terms with the Past in Textbooks of the Twentieth Century

Colonialism was a European "project" carried out with the support of competing nations and nationalist movements. This research project inquires to what extent colonialism is represented and interpreted in textbooks as either a national, transnational or European phenomenon.

Focusing on seven European member states, the project explores how colonialism has been represented and assessed in textbooks since the beginning of the twentieth century. The topics include (a) European self-perception as reflected in colonial rule, which has been conceived in terms of the "western civilising mission" or as the "burden of the white man", and shaped to a considerable extent by constant dissociation from those people who are to be "civilised". A further topic is (b) the exploration of colonialism as a transnational phenomenon which reveals the various processes by which people have come to terms with the colonial past, the formation of memory cultures and, at the same time, shared historical burdens. Finally, (c) in the long term, the critical and self-reflective reappraisal of colonial pasts could form the basis of a common European consciousness with which European politics may be shaped in the future, and which may serve to counteract the fragmentation of the continent.

This threefold objective stems from the conviction that common historical experience alone does not suffice to bring about a European consciousness. Instead, active debate about this common history is needed. The aim of this process is not to produce an interpretation of history which is binding for all Europeans, but to underscore the plural character of each and every historical narrative, and to make people more aware of the historical narratives of other people. In order to avoid the danger of relapsing into a potentially colonial perspective, the project will take into consideration some examples of textbooks from former colonies.

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