Myths and Mythical Spaces: Conditions and Challenges for History Textbooks in Albania and South-Eastern Europe (Eckert. Die Schriftenreihe)

This peer-reviewed edited volume focuses on textbookr esearch pertaining specifically to the Albanian-speaking regions of South-Eastern Europe, asubject somewhat neglected by educational media research in the SEE region untilnow, which hastendedtofocus on the countries of former Yu goslavia. This book is the first to maketextbooks written in the Albanian languageits primaryfocus, and thus fills as ignificantg ap in textbook research in the SEE region. It herefore congratulate the editors, Claudia Lichnofsky,Enriketa Pandelejmoni and Darko Stojanov, and thank them for their expertise and collaboration over the years. The idea for this volume emerged in the context of the project History Te xtbooks and Te aching in AlbanianLanguage Areas,carried out at the Georg Eckert Institute for International Te xtbookResearch in Brunswick, Germany, between 2013 and 2015, and funded by the Federal ForeignOffice of Germany. The project soughttoexamine and advance the status of research on textbooks from Albania, Kosovo,Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. Conferences on educational media research, seminars for textbookauthors and workshops for teacherswere held everyyear of the project, and fellowships for research stays at the institutewith its unique textbooklibrarywere awarded to several scholars and textbookauthors in supporto ft heir work on textbooks written in Albanian and neigh-bouringS outh-Slavicl anguages. 1 The projecta nd its events brought together scholars, historyt eachers and textbookauthors working in the region, particularly three conferences convened in Prishtina (2013), Tirana (2014) and Skopje (2015), on the subjectofmyths in textbooks of South-Eastern Europe. Here, the visual representations, national histories, ethnic conflictsand historical terminologyt obef ound in historyt extbooks of the region were analyzed and discussed in avarietyofpresentations and panels. Manyi ndividuals and institutions contributed to the success of the project. 1F or further information on this project, see https://albanianlanguagetextbooks.wordpress. com/ and http://www.gei.de/en/departments/textbooks-and-society/history-textbooks-andteaching-in-albanian-language-areas.html. "This volume addresses textbooks written in the Albanian language and in use in Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia and Serbia. Political myths and mythical spaces play a key role in shaping processes of identity-building, concepts of 'self' and 'other', and ideas pertaining to the location of the self and nation within a post-conflict context. The Albanian case is particularly interesting because the majority of Albanians live outside the borders of Albania, despite the existence of the nation-state, which gives rise to fascinating complexities regarding the shaping of national identities and myths surrounding concepts of 'self' and 'other'. What textbooks teach is always of political interest, as they represent society's intentions for its next generation. This renders identity-building processes via textbooks in this context a particularly fascinating topic for research, here examined through the lens of myths and mythical spaces."-- Back cover Textbook research is a relatively new field, particularly in South-Eastern Europe, and indeed previous studies have tended to marginalise textbooks in Albanian and for Albanian speakers. The Albanian case is particularly interesting because the majority of Albanians live outside the borders of Albania, despite the existence of the nation-state, which gives rise to fascinating complexities regarding the shaping of national identities and myths surrounding concepts of ‘self’ and ‘other’. Identity-building processes via textbooks are in this context a particularly fascinating topic for research, here examined through the lens of myths and mythical spaces ***Angaben zur beteiligten Person Fuchs: Prof. Dr. Eckhardt Fuchs ist Präsident der International Standing Conference for the History of Education, der internationalen Fachgemeinschaft der historischen Bildungsforschung (ISCHE), stellvertretender Direktor des Georg-Eckert-Instituts in Braunschweig und ordentlicher Professor für Historische und Vergleichende Bildungsforschung an der TU Braunschweig