“The divine fire … burns within them.” National Davids and Goliaths in Swiss, Danish, and Scottish school lessons
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Authors
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Publication date
2023
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04A - Book part
Editors
Tröhler, Daniel
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Education, curriculum and nation-building
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Pages / Duration
34-54
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Routledge
Place of publication / Event location
London
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Abstract
Heroic figures and their exploits are at the heart of national histories. This chapter analyzes the use of the biblical trope of David and Goliath in the depiction of three such heroes—namely William Tell, Niels Ebbesen, and William Wallace—and their respective foes in Swiss, Danish, and Scottish schoolbooks and other school materials. We use these Swiss, Danish, and Scottish cases to argue that the translation of this well-known biblical trope into nationalist discourse was used to create national imaginaries of who “we” are and how “we” differ from “others.” Thus, the case studies are telling examples of how schools help to create and promote national consciousness and national literacies. Moreover, they demonstrate the importance of exploring the role of schools and educational historiography as tools in the nation-building process in order to understand the development and perseverance of national imaginaries.
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370 - Erziehung, Schul- und Bildungswesen
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ISBN
978-1-0033-1598-8
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English
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Yes
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Published
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Peer review of the abstract
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Closed
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Citation
GOTLING, Nicole, Veronica MARICIC und Lukas BOSER HOFMANN, 2023. “The divine fire … burns within them.” National Davids and Goliaths in Swiss, Danish, and Scottish school lessons. In: Daniel TRÖHLER (Hrsg.), Education, curriculum and nation-building. London: Routledge. S. 34–54. ISBN 978-1-0033-1598-8. Verfügbar unter: https://irf.fhnw.ch/handle/11654/34675