Markus Furrer: Die Nation im Schulbuch – Zwischen Überhöhung und Verdrängung. Leitbilder der Schweizer Nationalgeschichte in Schweizer Geschichtslehrmitteln der Nachkriegszeit und Gegenwart

Historians assert that Swiss identity has emerged from and been shaped by history. It is thus no accident that great importance has been attached to the image of history in the small state of Switzerland. The present study analyses how history has been presented in history teaching materials, thereby focussing on the dimension of national history. It is the history of an ‘act of will’, seen as the core of historical events. Teaching materials have strongly emphasized it, following a national liberal and teleological argument. As a result, the image of a self-sufficient and isolated Switzerland persisted in the textbooks until the 1980s – in society, this image is still strongly present today. The national dimension now proves to be a trap: a fixation on the internal blocks the opening up to the external. Through the example of Switzerland, this study tries to find answers to the question, which also concerns other countries, of how the national dimension could be enlightened in the future.

Contents