The Most Golden Age: A Discourse Analysis of Representations of Medieval Bosnia in Secondary-School History Textbooks in the Federation of BiH

Abstract

This article opens with a general consideration of the modern education system and its position within nationalist ideology. Drawing on Michael Hechter’s typology of nationalism, it proposes two types to use as a tool for a discourse analysis of history textbooks in the context of the post-conflict society of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH): state-affirming and state-denying nationalism. It then provides a background and review of the literature addressing the challenges of education reform in the Western Balkans, wherein ethnically exclusivist narratives of the past have been gradually transformed into more inclusive history teaching, allowing multi-perspective approaches and different interpretations of historical events. The article proceeds to set out how this progress in BiH is still uncertain, given its complex and ethnically segregated education system. Critical discourse analysis of two history textbooks dealing with medieval Bosnia shows that their content may be interpreted to serve two mutually opposed outcomes: inclusive “civic” Bosnian nationalism, or exclusive “ethnic” Bosniak nationalism. This conclusion invites criticism and reconsideration of the structural problems and ideologies that have shaped educational processes in the past two decades.