The project has sharpened the focus on the social and scholarly relevance of the colonial past when it comes to Europe's external perceptions, European self-images, and points of gravity of a European memory. By examining representations and appropriations of colonialism in European textbooks, it tied in with postcolonial studies, which have received much international attention but are still hesitantly received in Germany. This opening up of new approaches to research in cultural studies and history stimulated further projects of the institute. Through this substantive focus on colonial history, the institute developed into a preferred place of research for relevant research papers (bachelor's and master's theses, dissertations), and the researcher was in numerous cases the contact person for students, graduates, fellows, and visiting scholars of the institute, as well as for scholars interested in scientific networking in the field of European colonialism (e.g., within the framework of the European Science Foundation or the EU research framework program Horizon 2020).
Methodology
Accompanying the project work, the Internet presence of the network was created at www.lost-in-translation.org. In addition, the researcher has presented the project and its results several times in radio and newspaper interviews, thus contributing to a new public perception of the importance of textbooks in a globalized world. The results of the project have further promoted collaboration with the digital research infrastructures at the Eckert Institute. In addition, project findings on European and African textbook systems and curricula were used in the preparation of the Curricula Workstation and the Edu-Data information platform. The virtual network for international textbook research Edumeres holds a cartography dossier and a contribution on colonial maps.
Results
The contributions presented so far are currently being compiled in a monograph. They result in a broad but homogeneous spectrum that reflects the basic structure of the monograph. The contribution on textbooks as a medium of translation, which appeared in History and Society, starts from questions of theory and principle. Basic information is compiled by the contributions on European educational policy in comparison. Questions of method and sources are discussed in the contributions dealing with maps and illustrations in European school history textbooks. The national variants elaborate the contributions on educational policy and textbooks in Germany, England and France in comparison. Transcontinental comparisons, on the other hand, are made possible by the contributions in Periplus and IZ3W on history textbooks in Europe and Africa. Finally, the balancing reflections on the relationship between national and European identities in the volume "Europabilder im 20. Jahrhundert" lead to the interpretation of the results.
In addition, the conferences and anthologies organized within the framework of the project and subsequently have further emphasized the comparative perspective, established cooperations of the Georg Eckert Institute, and stimulated new research.
Lectures, publications and publications
Lectures:
"Beyond National Master Narratives? Perspectives of a European History Textbook on the Example of Colonialism," Second European Congress of World and Global History, Dresden, July 3, 2008.
"Europa im Bild -Bilder von Europa: Deutsche, französische und polnische Geschichtsschulbücher im Vergleich," Annual Conference of the International Society for Historical and Systematic Textbook Research: Das Bild im Schulbuch, Bayerisches Schulmuseum, Ichenhausen, September 26, 2008.
"Images of Europe. Colonialism and European identity in 20th century wall charts," International Conference Wall Charts - history and European identity, Julius Maximilians University Würzburg, April 2, 2009 (invited keynote).
"'... Painting as Much of the Map of Africa British Red as Possible'. Maps of Colonial Rule in 20th Century History Textbooks," International Conference Kampf der Karten. Propaganda and History Maps as Political Instruments and Texts of Identity in Europe since 1918, Herder Institute Marburg, May 6, 2009.
"Maps of Colonial History in European History Textbooks," Workshop History Maps as part of the DFG Project History Atlases in Europe, Justus Liebig University Giessen, July 10, 2009 (invited).
"Le recit post-colonial dans le manuel d'histoire franco-allemand," Colloque international Enseignement et colonisation dans l'Empire français. Une histoire connectée?", École Normale Supérieure Lettres et Sciences humaines, Lyon (F), October 1, 2009.
"Colonial History in European and African School History Textbooks," Historical Colloquium of the Technical University of Braunschweig, June 16, 2010 (invited).
"Maps of Colonial Rule or Colonial Maps? On the Mapping of Modern European Colonialism in Textbooks," Center for Contemporary Historical Research, Potsdam, July 1, 2010 (invited).
"Banlieue and Nation. Young Migrants of the Big Cities and the Politics of Education and Schooling in France," 48th Deutscher Historikertag, Berlin, September 29, 2010.
"Past glories and oppressive tradition. Empires in European history textbooks," Annual Conference of the Society for Francophone Postcolonial Studies, Institut Français London, November 19, 2010.
"Imperial legacies. The place of colonialism in German historiography and history education," European Science Foundation Workshop Teaching the Post-Empire State in Europe: National Historiography and History Education, University of Huddersfield (UK), June 11, 2011 (invited).
"Europe as a Colonial Memory Community? The Colonial Past in Debates on Memory and Education Policy in Germany, France, and England," conference Translating Europe. Societal conceptions of Europe in the 20th century, Justus Liebig University Giessen, 1.7.2011.
"Remembering colonialism. Colonial pasts in Germany and Europe," German Studies Association Annual Conference, Louisville, KY (USA) September 24, 2011 (own panel).
"Les images de l'empire. Le colonialisme dans les manuels scolaires d'histoire allemands de l'enseignement secondaire," 8e journée Pierre Guibert "Les images dans les manuels scolaires," Université Paul Valerie - Montpellier III, IUFM Montpellier, (F), February 1, 2012.
"Dilemmas of Empire. Colonial Memory and the Politics of History in England," International Conference Decolonization: Postcolonial Memory Politics in Europe. Media, Discourses, Conflicts, Georg Eckert Institute Braunschweig, April 19, 2012.
"Europe as a Colonial Project?", BMBF Final Conference Lost in Translation? Images of Europe and their Translations, Federal Foreign Office, Europasaal, Berlin, July 5, 2012.
International Symposium Postcolonial perspectives on national historiographies and history education, Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, Amsterdam, December 6-7, 2012 (invited).
"The Decolonization of History Textbooks? Colonial History in European Textbooks since 1945," International Society for History Didactics Colonialism, decolonization and post-colonial historical perspectives - Challenges for History Didactics and history teaching in a globalizing world Tutzing, September 16-18, 2013.
"Representations of Colonialism. Textbook Research and German History Textbooks," Journées d'études Enseignement de l'histoire et des langues, École Française de Rome, Rome, October 17-18, 2013 (invited).
"Colonial and Postcolonial contexts of history textbooks," Historical Culture and History Education, Autonoma University of Madrid, December 4-6, 2013 (invited).
Europe Postcolonial. European history textbooks and intercultural education, University of Hildesheim, Department of Education and Intercultural Education, Hildesheim, January 15, 2014 (invited).
"Colonial Knowledge. The Popularization of Colonial History in European Textbooks," September 23-26, 2014, Historikertag Göttingen, lecture and organization of the section "Beherrschen und Modernisieren. European Colonialism in Popular Knowledge Media since the 19th Century."
Between Myth and Global History. The History of European Expansion, GEI, Conference: History Myths in Europe. Opportunities and Challenges in History Education, December 5-6, 2014; Keynote; Moderator.
"De nouvelles Europes. Kolonialgeschichte in europäischen Schulbüchern, Colloquium of the Chair of Didactics of History, University of Siegen, 7.1.2015 (invited).
Sections and Conferences:
Translating Europe. Social conceptions of Europe in the 20th century, Justus Liebig University Giessen, July 1, 2011.
"Remembering colonialism. Colonial pasts in Germany and Europe," German Studies Association Annual Conference, Louisville, KY (USA) September 24, 2011, Sect.
"Europe as an educational space and knowledge society," Institut Pierre Werner Luxembourg, March 22-23, 2012.
"Europe as a Colonial Project?", BMBF Final Conference Lost in Translation? Images of Europe and their Translations, Federal Foreign Office, Europasaal, Berlin, July 5, 2012.
"Domination and Modernization. European Colonialism in Popular Knowledge Media since the 19th Century," September 23-26, 2014, Historikertag Göttingen, Sect.
History Myths in Europe. Opportunities and Challenges in History Education, December 5-6, 2014; GEI, Braunschweig.
Contributions to journals:
Susanne Grindel, Colonialism in Textbooks as a Translation Problem. German, French and English history textbooks in comparison, in History and Society 38, 2012, pp. 272-303.
This, The End of Empire. Colonial Heritage and the Politics of Memory in Britain, in: JEMMS 5, 2013, pp. 33-49.
This, Expansion or Invasion? Colonial history in european and african textbooks, in: iz3W information center 3rd world, 329, 2012, pp. D11-D13.
This, Readings of Colonialism. Colonial history in recent European and African textbooks, in: periplus. Yearbook of Non-European History 22, 2012, pp. 176-195.
This/Winfried Speitkamp, "Da war doch was. European States Begin to Face Their Colonial Past," in Cultural Exchange. Journal of International Perspectives 4, 2008, p. 71.
Also published at: www.eurotopics.net/de/magazin/magazin_aktuell/kolonialismus-2008-10/grindel-speitkamp-kolonialerinnerung/This, German Sonderweg oder europäischer Erinnerungsort? Die Darstellung des modernen Kolonialismus in neueren deutschen Schulbüchern, in: Koloniale Vergangenheiten - Colonial Pasts, Themenheft der Zeitschrift für internationale Schulbuchforschung 3, 2008, pp. 695-716.
This, Banlieue and Nation. Young migrants of big cities and educational and school policies in France, in Francia 41, 2014, pp. 459-474.
Contributions to handbooks:
Susanne Grindel, Enseignement et colonisation. Le récit postcolonial dans le manuel d'histoire franco-allemand, in Gilles Boyer, Pascal Clerc, and Michelle Zancarini-Fournel (eds.), L'école aux colonies, les colonies à l'école, Lyon 2013, pp. 169-185.
This, "...painting as much of the map of Africa British red as possible". Maps of Colonial Rule in 20th Century European History Textbooks, in Peter Haslinger and Vadim Oswalt (eds.), Kampf der Karten. Propaganda and History Maps as Political Instruments and Texts of Identity, Marburg 2012, pp. 258-287.
This, Europe as a Colonial Memory Community? The Colonial Past in the Debates on Memory and Education Policy in Germany, France, and England, in: Europabilder im 20. Jahrhundert. Emergence at the Periphery, edited by Frank Bösch, Ariane Brill, and Florian Greiner, Göttingen 2012, pp. 96-116.
Dies./Ewa Anklam, Europa im Bild - Bilder von Europa: Europarepräsentationen in deutschen, französischen und polnischen Geschichtsbüchern in historischer Perspektive, in: Carsten Heinze and Eva Matthes (eds.), Das Bild im Schulbuch (Beiträge zur historischen und systematischen Schulbuchforschung), Bad Heilbrunn: Klinkhardt 2010, pp. 93-108.
This, The Image of Migrants in the Textbook, in Maria Dabringer and Alexander Trupp (eds.), Wirtschaften mit Migrationshintergrund. Zur sociokulturellen Bedeutung "ethnischer" Ökonomien in urbanen Räumen, Innsbruck 2012, pp. 120-129.
This, Colonial and Postcolonial Contexts of History Textbooks, in Mario Carretero, Stefan Berger, and Maria Grever (eds.), International Handbook of Research in Historical Culture and Education. Hybrid Ways of Learning History, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016 (accepted for print).
Digital Publications:
Susanne Grindel, "National Identity and European Identity," www.eurviews.eu
This, "Winston Churchill: Address to Academic Youth," www.eurviews.eu
This, "The Superiority of the Franks," www.eurviews.eu
Dies, "History of Education in Germany," www.eurviews.eu/de/bildungsgeschichte/deutschland.html
This, "Maps and Their Limits. On the Cartographic Mediation of Modern European Colonialism in 20th Century German History Textbooks." In The Power of Maps or: what you can do with maps, edited by the Friends of the Prof. Dr. Frithjof Voss Foundation and Georg Eckert Institute. Eckert.Dossiers 2 (2009). www.edumeres.net/urn/urn:nbn:de:0220-2009-0002-065.
This/Winfried Speitkamp, "Da war doch was. European States Begin to Confront Their Colonial Past," 2008, www.eurotopics.net/de/magazin/magazin_aktuell/kolonialismus-2008-10/grindel-speitkamp-kolonialerinnerung/
Teaching (TU Braunschweig):
"Colonial History and Colonial Memory," SS 2013.
"Youth Unrest and Postcolonial Migration in Western Europe," WS 2013/14.
"From de Gaulle to Sarkozy. French Contemporary History from 1958 to 2012," WS 2014/15
Editorships:
Dies. (ed.), Koloniale Vergangenheiten - Colonial Pasts (= Themenheft der Zeitschrift für internationale Schulbuchforschung 3, 2008), Hannover 2008.
Susanne Grindel, Katja Gorbahn, Susanne Popp (eds.), Teaching Colonialism. A Postcolonial Perspective on History Education, Berghahn: New York, 2016. (in progress).
