A Critical Discourse Analysis of Japanese language textbooks written for Korean primary students during the colonial era (1910-1945)

Abstract

The aim of this project is to investigate the political and educational ideologies projected in the Japanese language textbooks written for Korean primary students that were used in Korea during the Japanese colonial era (1910-1945). The Japanese language textbooks used by Korean and Japanese students were compared, in order to discover the different ideologies presented in them. This study examined which ideologies were dominant in each set of textbooks, what different ideologies were embedded in the textbooks used in Korean primary schools, and what possible ideal worlds and qualities of ideal citizens were constructed and promoted through the Japanese language textbooks for Korean students. Previous studies have analysed the differing textbooks used by Japanese and Korean students separately. The comparison made in this study therefore provides new insight into the varying policies that the Japanese government implemented in the different school systems, as well as highlighting the changes that took place in the curricula and textbooks as the political situation changed over time.nThis study utilised critical curriculum theory as a theoretical framework, and applied critical discourse analysis (CDA) in analysis of the texts, and visual image analysis (primarily based on Kress and Van Leeuwenrs (1996, 2006) theory) for the images. Using this approach, both the texts and visual images in the two different sets of textbooks (i.e., for Japanese and Korean students) were analysed item-by-item by specific titles and themes. Story grammar analysis was also used for the narratives of longer stories. nWhen Korea was colonised, Japanese was imposed as the national language, and Japanese textbooks were used in Korean schools. In order to examine the Japanese language curriculum and the textbooks issued under the Japanese education reforms (called lJoseon Education Ordinancesr) in Korea, three data sets were chosen, based on year, level, appropriateness and publisher. The data for analysis consists of the language textbooks Kokugotokuhon (levels 2 and 3), published by Joseonchongdogbu (the Japanese Governor-General of Korea) for use by Korean students, and Shougakutokuhon (levels 2 and 3), published by Monbusho (the Japanese Ministry of Education) for Japanese students. nBy comparing the texts and images in Kokugotokuhon and Shougakutokuhon, this study was able to show how the Japanese colonial authorities projected specific subjectivities onto the colonised, and promoted different versions of ideal worlds and ideal citizens: that is, how the Japanese colonial administration conveyed the Japanese governmentrs ideologies in Korean schools. nnThe textbooks for Korean students focused more on the promotion of Japanese colonial ideology than did the textbooks for Japanese students. A Japan-centric perspective was highlighted in the textbooks for the Korean students, through references to the Japanese Emperor. Furthermore, different moralities were emphasised for the Korean students in comparison to the Japanese students, in order to promote images of the ideal colonised person, stressing the need to be a good citizen under the Japanese regime. The textbooks for Korean students corresponded with the aims of the Joseon Education Ordinances, one of which was to make Korean students worship, respect and show obedience towards the Emperor. In contrast, the textbooks for Japanese students did not include any texts about the Japanese Emperor. nBoth sets of textbooks included Japanese history and geography, and references to Korean historical symbols and heroes were omitted. Koreans were depicted as inferior and barbaric people, and portrayed as people who needed to practise better hygiene and who performed primitive physical labour, whilst the textbooks for Japanese students emphasised their advanced Western technology and professions. The textbooks for Koreans seemed to avoid including newly-developed technologies, such as fireworks and cars, and included content related to pro-war material. nThe results from this study suggest that the Japanese textbooks for Koreans were a powerful means of manifesting the colonial ideologies that the Japanese government wished to engrave into the Korean primary studentsr minds during the Japanese colonial era. n