Censoring history: citizenship and memory in Japan, Germany, and the United States (M.E. Sharpe, 2000)

Considering the great influence textbooks have as interpreters of history, politics and culture to future generations of citizens, it is no surprise that they generate considerable controversy. Focusing largely on textbook treatment of lingering - and sometimes explosive - tensions originating in World War II, "Censoring History" addresses issues of textbook nationalism in historical and comparative perspective. Discussions include Japan's Comfort Women and the Nanjing Massacre; Nazi genocide against the Jews, Gypsies, Catholics and others; Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the Indochina wars. The essays address controversies over textbook content around the globe: How and why do specific representations of war evolve? What are the international and national forces affecting how textbook writers, publishers and state censors depict the past? How do these forces differ from country to country? Other comparative essays analyze nationalist and war controversies in German, US and Chinese textbook debates. Part I: Introduction. The Lessons Of War, Global Power, And Social Change / Laura Hein And Mark Selden -- Part Ii: Textbooks And Historical Memory. The Japanese Movement To Correct History / Gavan Mccormach ; Consuming Asia, Consuming Japan : The New Neonationalistic Revisionism In Japan / Aaron Gerow ; Japanese Education, Nationalism, And Ienaga Saburō's Textbook Lawsuits / Nozaki Yoshiko And Inokuchi Hiromitsu ; Identity And Transnationalization In German School Textbooks / Yasemin Nuhoglu Soysal ; The Vietnam War In High School American History / James W. Loewen ; War Crimes And The Vietnamese People : American Representations And Silences / David Hunt -- Part Iii: Politics Of The Classroom. The Continuing Legacy Of Japanese Colonialism : The Japan-south Korea Joint Study Group On History Textbooks / Kimijima Kazuhiko ; The Power Of Selective Tradition : Buchenwald Concentration Camp And Holocaust Education For Youth In The New Germany / Gregory Wegner ; Teaching Democracy, Teaching War : American And Japanese Educators Teach The Pacific War / Kathleen Woods Masalski. Laura Hein And Mark Selden, Editors. An East Gate Book. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. This provocative collection of essays addresses ongoing controversies over coverage of World War II in Japanese, German and American textbooks. The book shows how sanitized treatments of war crimes, racism, and other injustices have mobilized fierce debate internationally as well as within the three countries. Specific issues discussed include the Japanese movement to "correct" history; identity and transnationalization in German textbooks; the Vietnam War in high school American History; the teaching of Japan's colonization of Korea in Japanese and Korean schools; Holocaust education for youth in the New Germany; and how American and Japanese educators teach the Pacific War.