Religiously Framed Nation-Talk in Polish History Textbooks: John Paul II. and St. Jadwiga as National Heroes

Abstract

In this chapter, the focus is on two national heroes of Polish history: St. Jadwiga—King of Poland, and John Paul II—the pope. The former is a symbol of religious sacrifice, the triumph of Catholicism over paganism and the national glory in the Jagiellonian era. John Paul II’s role in twentieth-century historiography is to personify the struggle for national independence and the ultimate victory of (Polish) Catholicism over communism. The choice of both figures is based on one grand similarity: both St. Jadwiga and John Paul II are constructed in history textbooks in a two-fold way, as if they had lived in two parallel worlds: the world of Christian belief, purity, and love (sainthood) and the world of political/diplomatic struggle for national glory/independence (heroism). The examination of their national heroism discourse in Polish school historiography is based on a repeated critical reading and image analysis of both national heroes in selected history textbooks, used in discourses of truth, the aim is to search for the dominant regime of truth in relation to national heroism and the idea of citizenship presented in school historiography. National heroism narratives in textbooks were placed in a broader context of building representations of the Polish nation, inspiring an emotional identification with Polishness among students, as well as attempting to develop the notion of good citizenship in history textbooks.