This chapter explores representations of Mesolithic hunter-gatherers in Norwegian school textbooks, and the underlying ideology and messages these representations transmit to the reader. Specifically, it examines modern-day representations of Stone Age individuals and interpersonal relationships, and how textbooks establish connections between Stone Age people and the indigenous population of Norway, the Sami. The textbooks are examined using iconography and historical consciousness, and the discussion is founded on perspectives from postcolonial critiques. By problematizing the use of stereotypes, dehumanization, essentialism and fixity, I argue that Stone Age hunter-gatherers are portrayed through a colonial lens that promotes Othering. This concept of ‘Otherness’ is also transferred to the indigenous population of Norway, the Sami. The school textbooks reproduce ideas from older research that is rooted in the scientific discourse of the 1800s, which was influenced by racial theory and a Eurocentric perspective.

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Dehumanization, Stereotyping, and Essentialism: Othering in School Textbooks

  • Isabella Foldøy

摘要

This chapter explores representations of Mesolithic hunter-gatherers in Norwegian school textbooks, and the underlying ideology and messages these representations transmit to the reader. Specifically, it examines modern-day representations of Stone Age individuals and interpersonal relationships, and how textbooks establish connections between Stone Age people and the indigenous population of Norway, the Sami. The textbooks are examined using iconography and historical consciousness, and the discussion is founded on perspectives from postcolonial critiques. By problematizing the use of stereotypes, dehumanization, essentialism and fixity, I argue that Stone Age hunter-gatherers are portrayed through a colonial lens that promotes Othering. This concept of ‘Otherness’ is also transferred to the indigenous population of Norway, the Sami. The school textbooks reproduce ideas from older research that is rooted in the scientific discourse of the 1800s, which was influenced by racial theory and a Eurocentric perspective.