Solidarity Movement in the School History Textbooks in Poland - Selected Contexts of Gender, Religion and Politics

ABSTRACT

The aim of the study was to analyze the narratives of the Solidarity movement in upper-secondary level history textbooks, published between 1991 and 2018. Quantitative methods were used to measure different categories of historical figures in terms of their frequency and textual space, as well as any changes in representation over time. To explore the values and ideologies embedded in the textbook narratives of Solidarity, the study was guided by the qualitative approach and the critical discourse analysis of both verbal and visual texts. It seems that the content of the Polish history textbooks is not as susceptible to governmental and/or policy changes as initially assumed. Women consequently remain outside the historical narrative of Solidarity as a marginalized group. The study noticed oversimplification of historical and political complexity of Solidarity, with its major cost being the reproduction of socio-economic inequalities and gender stereotypes.

KEYWORDS:

• History school textbooks
• Solidarity movement
• Poland
• gender
• politics
• religion

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Historically, the stereotype of the Pole-Catholic refers to the nostalgic interpretation of Polish national identity in the 19. century, when – in the absence of clearly defined territorial boundaries – it constituted symbolic and moral grounds for the idea of homeland and political sovereignty. In post-war communist Poland, it came ‘to epitomise the authenticity and legitimacy of ethnic Poles as opposed to the illegitimate Soviet-groomed elites’ (Stanley 2016).