The representation of the Cold War in three Estonian history textbooks

Abstract

The article looks at the discursive strategies different Estonian history textbooks employ to represent the Cold War period, and the ‘commonsense’ ideologies instilled through these representations. The textbooks analysed include two history books dating back to the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic and, for contrast, one written during the second period of Estonia’s independence. This lends the analysis a temporal perspective, making it possible to look at the changes over time and differences between the attitudes projected. The study focuses on the rhetoric and metaphors used in connection with the Cold War period. The practices of different textbooks are compared to one another using discourse analysis. The purpose is to bring out the commonsense elements of the textbooks’ discourse. The goal is to understand the ideological processes in these texts’ discourse and how they (in)directly intend to shape the reader’s worldview through language and rhetoric.

Keywords:

• history education
• history textbooks
• the Cold War
• ideology
• critical discourse analysis

Notes

1. The textbook was originally written in Russian and translated into Estonian by Vello Tõnso.

2. All three textbooks were published in Estonian and the English translations of the citations are provided by the author.