A Qualitative Discursive Analysis of Eight Contemporary Geography Books

ABSTRACT A Qualitative Discursive Analysis of Eight Contemporary Geography Books Teacher Training with an Intercultural Profile 2006 Author: Susanne Ljunglöf Tutor: Jan-Eric Mattson The aim of this paper is to describe which discourses concerning the different continents problems, future and development that I can find in the descriptions of the continents in a number of contemporary geography books. The aim has been divided in four questions: - Which aspects of the continents problems are expressed in these geography books? - Which impressions concerning the continents development and future are expressed in these geography books? - Which conceptions about the population in the different continents are expressed in these geography books? - Which cultural reference creates these discourses? The method used for conducting this study is a text analytical method called general discourse analysis. My conclusions: - The different continents problems, development and future are described through entirely diverse discourses. - The reviewed geography books take their origin i a western perspective in their description of the different continents. - As a reader it is always important to be aware of the ethnocentric perspective that could be expresse