Not Inferior but Backward: Contradictory Representations of Asia in U.S. World History Textbooks During the Interwar Period (1919–1938)

• In Event: 64.082 - Diverse Voices and Narratives in Social Studies Research

Abstract

This study investigates how Asia was represented in the progressive U.S. world history textbooks during the interwar period (1919-1938). Although the textbooks challenged racist understandings of Asia by highlighting long-lasting civilization and recent changes of Asian nations, the textbooks also portrayed Asia as backward, violent, and irrational, still maintaining the Eurocentric perspective on Asia. By substituting racial explanation with sociocultural explanation for differences between West and East, the textbook authors could sustain their Eurocentric notion of progress while negating the inherited inferiority of Asia. These findings provide more complex understanding of Orientalism embedded in the U.S. social studies curriculum by showing the partial rejection of Orientalism by the early twentieth century textbook authors.

Author

• Jiyoung Kang, Indiana University - Bloomington