Fiction for Peace? Domestic Identity, National Othering and Peace Education in Dutch Historical Novels for Children, 1914–1935
2015; International Research Society for Children's Literature; Volume: 8; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.3366/ircl.2015.0146
ISSN1755-6201
Autores Tópico(s)Historical Geopolitical and Social Dynamics
ResumoHistorical fiction for children has long functioned as a continuation of history education. World War I brought about critique on history education in several Western European countries. The nationalistic and chauvinistic representation of historical events was claimed to have contributed to the outbreak of war. In the educational discourse a discussion arose about changing history education into peace education. In this article the impact of this discussion on historical novels for children is investigated. Dutch historical novels for children serve as a case study. The novels are contextualised within the educational debate from the perspective of imagology. Representations of the own identity and national others are analysed, supplemented with an analysis of references to war and peace. The article shows how historical fiction for children held on to the glorification of nationality for a long time, but joined the educational discourse by occasionally framing the represented battles in the spirit of peace education.
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