Repräsentationen von Protest – «1968» im Spiegel (west-)deutscher Schulgeschichtsbücher
Date
2014-09-30
Authors
Bethge, Johanna
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Georg-Eckert-Institut. Leibniz-Institut für Internationale Schulbuchforschung
Abstract
Als zeitgeschichtliches Streitthema markiert «1968» den Ausgangspunkt der vorliegenden Studie, die im Rückgriff auf ausgewählte (west-)deutsche Schulgeschichtsbücher zeitspezifische Darstellungs- und Deutungsmuster jener Protestvergangenheit auszumachen sucht. Es wird nach dem zeitgenössischen Umgang mit jener Nahvergangenheit Ende der 1960er und Anfang der 1970er Jahre gefragt, außerdem danach, wie sich die Repräsentation der historischen Ereignisse im Laufe der nachfolgenden Jahrzehnte wandelte. Hierbei interessiert, wie der Bedeutungszugewinn sprachlich und visuell gestaltet wurde und auf welche Art und Weise das westdeutsche «1968» schließlich die Signatur einer für die bundesrepublikanische Geschichte bedeutsamen Epochenzäsur erhielt. Im diachronen Zugriff werden Kontinuitäten und Diskontinuitäten in der westdeutschen Wahrnehmung und Beurteilung von «1968» über einen rund dreißigjährigen Zeitraum (1969-1998) hinweg freigelegt. Damit liefert die Arbeit einen Beitrag zur Rezeptionsgeschichte von «1968» und eröffnet zugleich Erkenntnisse in Bezug auf zeitgenössisch dominante Wissens- und Wertvorstellungen und hegemoniale gesellschaftliche Leitlinien.
The year 1968, a key flashpoint in contemporary historical discourse, is the starting point of this study, which seeks to identify typical patterns of depiction and interpretation of this tumultuous period of protest by analysing selected school history textbooks from the former West Germany, both before and after reunification. The study is concerned with exploring the way in which contemporary textbooks engage with the phase of the recent past which commenced at the end of the 1960s and continued into the 1970s and with retracing changes in the representation of the events of the period in the decades that followed it. Focal aspects of the investigation include the ways in which the increased significance of the period was manifested in textbooks’ visual and textual elements and how the experience of 1968 in West Germany came to acquire the status of a significant caesura in the history of the Federal Republic. Taking a diachronic approach, the study uncovers elements of continuity and discontinuity in West Germans’ perception of “1968” across a period of approximately three decades (1969-1998); in so doing, it represents an addition to the body of work surrounding the ways in which the idea of “1968” has been conceived of and interpreted and provides insights into the notions of knowledge and values which have come to dominate the contemporary discursive arena and the hegemonic strands of societal discourse to which these notions give expression.
The year 1968, a key flashpoint in contemporary historical discourse, is the starting point of this study, which seeks to identify typical patterns of depiction and interpretation of this tumultuous period of protest by analysing selected school history textbooks from the former West Germany, both before and after reunification. The study is concerned with exploring the way in which contemporary textbooks engage with the phase of the recent past which commenced at the end of the 1960s and continued into the 1970s and with retracing changes in the representation of the events of the period in the decades that followed it. Focal aspects of the investigation include the ways in which the increased significance of the period was manifested in textbooks’ visual and textual elements and how the experience of 1968 in West Germany came to acquire the status of a significant caesura in the history of the Federal Republic. Taking a diachronic approach, the study uncovers elements of continuity and discontinuity in West Germans’ perception of “1968” across a period of approximately three decades (1969-1998); in so doing, it represents an addition to the body of work surrounding the ways in which the idea of “1968” has been conceived of and interpreted and provides insights into the notions of knowledge and values which have come to dominate the contemporary discursive arena and the hegemonic strands of societal discourse to which these notions give expression.