The Influence of Colonial Ideology on Schoolbooks in the Belgian Congo
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 10325570 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Honoré Vinck (University of Mbandaka, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1995 |
| Volume | 31 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 354-405 |
| Publication date | 1995-01-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Paedagogica Historica (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0030-9230 • E-ISSN: 1477-674X |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/0030923950310201 |
| OpenAlex | W2041552862 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
The analysis of about 50 textbooks, used in the elementary schools of the former Belgian Congo, reveals how the school education propagated the most formai colonial ideology in the terms proposed by the Belgian political authorities. Fundamental themes such as the legitimacy of the colonization and the sources of authority, and the bearers and symbols of colonial authority take an important place in the texts posed to the children. The traditional pre‐colonial beliefs and life‐style were placed in opposition to the new western institutions in a black‐is‐bad and white‐is‐good terminology. The pupils were invited to adhere to the new values and to acquire some selected skills in imitation of the Whites in order to be able to function in the new System. Historical representation shows the White as an heroic, perfect, even mythical being. At the opposite end are the Blacks, “In the hands of the Devil. “ Three booklets are in opposition to this dominant vision of the colonial society. They incite the young people to a positive consideration of their own culture and language. One of them not only resisted but attacked formally the established ideology and practices. Finally the author tries to discover the link between the school education and the concepts of power and actual behavior of the postcolonial authorities. These links seem to be more suggestive than formally established, but it is certain that all the protagonists of Independent Zaire until recent times have been educated in the colonial System and have had the textbooks in question in their hands. Attitudes of uncontrolled domination and reiigious submission in the postcolonial area are directiy related to the attitudes encrusted by the colonial school education. Colonial power had expressed his ideology in the most powerful propaganda tool: the textbook of the elementary school. The Second Republic in Zaire (1965‐1990) continued on this path using similar terminology and expressing the same authoritarian principles. At last both failed
Binary opposition · Colonialism · Epistemology · Ideology · Indoctrination · Legitimacy · Opposition (politics · Political science · Politics · Sociology · White (mutation · Educator Training and Historical Pedagogy · Gender Studies · History · Law · Philosophy · Religious Education and Schools
| Citations per year | 0.13 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 1996 - 2015 (20) |
| Highly cited | No |