Den demokratiska antipatrioten och den rasande förtryckaren: En diskursanalys av representationen av svenska och icke-svenska aktörer i historiska läroböcker

This study analyzes the discursive content of four history textbooks in order to demonstrate how national identities are formed and how they differ from each other. This was done through discourse analysis guided by social constructivism and John M. Hobson’s dichotomy of East and West. The study shows that textbooks mainly construct national identities in three ways; first by making a clear distinction between “The Self” and “The Other”, second by preserving a world order based on the notions of the invariant hegemony of the nation-state, and third by utilizing stereotype based dissimilarities in order to accentuate existing differences between nationalities. Implicit ideals and values in the historical discourse play an important part in the construction of identities; however sends a contradictory and ambiguous message. It allows the Swede to error and commit morally questionable acts, yet sustain the title as the most democratic, equal people in the world, always in stark contrast to its surroundings. This can be understood with the help of the applied theories, which identifies an inherent power relationship in producing and maintaining a discourse. It is important to expose and deconstruct the established discourse in order to avoid legitimised policies standing in the way for an inclusive and representative way of conveying history