A study of the impact of nationalism on the portrayal of Jews in Swedish elementary school textbooks during the period 1900 to 1972

Sammanfattning

This investigation analysis the depiction of jews, in swedish textbooks in primary schools, during the period 1900 to 1972, in order to determine if the depictions are antisemitic. The study uses a qualitative text analysis to analyse the source material and, based upon Helen Feins definition of antisemitism, the study determines if descriptions of jews are antisemitic. The study reveals that depictions of jews were mostly antisemitic during the first half of the century, which was from 1900 to 1955, and that antisemitic descriptions seized to exist after the school curriculum which was introduced in 1955. In this curriculum, following the aftermath of the holocaust, and the second world war, swedish textbooks were forced to teach the value of egalitarianism between different ethnic groups. Thus, all racial ideology and antisemitism was stricttly forbidden in textbooks. This change was a consequence of increased international cooperation, and in efforts to combat both racism and antisemitism, furthermore, racial science was rebuted, which contributed to the change in how jews were depicted.