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Chang, Bi-Yu (2021) 'Recentring the National Self: The Trajectory of National Selfhood in Social Studies education.' In: Shei, Chris, (ed.), Taiwan: Manipulation of Ideology and Struggle for Identity. London: Routledge, pp. 36-54. (Routledge Studies in Chinese Discourse Analysis)

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Abstract

This chapter considers how the ‘national self’ is constructed through primary education and its impact on students’ identity. Combing through the 72 social studies textbooks and mapping out various self-references, it traces the genealogy of the idea of the national self-image and reveals how social studies education presents a particular vision of the collective ‘we’. The research finds that the change in official national self-image is not just a revisionist shift from China to Taiwan. Rather, the changing meaning of ‘we’ is best understood as a repositioning process; the usage and meanings of various self-references are fluid and contingent. Instead of ascribing the rise of Taiwanese identity solely to political activism, this study reveals that the foundations had long been laid, fostering in education an awareness of cross-Strait differences, and constructing an exclusive sense of Taiwanese-ness. The decentring of Zhongguo in social studies textbooks represents a change in identity, moving Taiwan from the periphery to the centre, replacing ‘where we came from’ with a more down to earth approach of ‘who we have become’.

Item Type: Book Chapters
SOAS Departments & Centres: School Research Centres > Centre of Taiwan Studies
Departments and Subunits > Department of Politics & International Studies
ISBN: 9781138485822
Copyright Statement: This is an Accepted Manuscript of a book chapter published by Routledge in Shei, Chris, (ed.), Taiwan: Manipulation of Ideology and Struggle for Identity. 2021. London: Routledge, pp. 36-54. (Routledge Studies in Chinese Discourse Analysis) https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351047845. Re-use is subject to the publisher’s terms and conditions
DOI (Digital Object Identifier): https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351047845-4
Date Deposited: 09 Nov 2021 17:30
URI: https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/id/eprint/35914

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