The passive continent? : How Africa is portrayed in Swedish history books in upper secondary school

The aim of this study is to examine how Africa is portrayed in a selection of Swedish history textbooks during the period 1995-2018 in upper secondary school. The questions that the study is based on is how Africa is portrayed during the period, how it changes during the period and why it changes. The main method used in this study is qualitative content analysis, meaning different themes have been identified in the textbooks. Earlier research shows that there exists a pattern in how Africa is portrayed in educational texts where the continent and its people is seen as less developed than Europe. Furthermore, the theoretical framework that has been used in the study is postcolonial theory. The result shows that Africa is seen as the origin of the human species and that the earliest humans differentiated from the modern one because of the simpler way of life. When it comes to the era of colonialism and imperialism Africa is mostly portrayed as a passive continent who does not contribute to moving history forward. Furthermore, Africa is portrayed as a continent struggling with poverty, famine, disasters and lack of democracy, which is explained by the postcolonial struggle Africa has suffered and how the countries have failed to implement western capitalist models. The result also shows that textbooks portray ancient Egypt as a highly developed, complex society which differs from how the rest of Africa is portrayed. South Africa also gets a lot of recognition in the textbooks even though it is mostly the European history that is being told. Some of the newer textbooks highlights Africa’s history before the European involvement in the continent, and former African kingdoms such as Mali, Ghana, Songau, Hausa, Kanem and Zimbabwe, portraying Africa as a continent who has rich history and who has had developed societies before the Europeans involvement. Overall, the result of the study is in line what with previous research shows and when the result is analysed with postcolonial theory it highlights some of the issues that postcolonial theory points at. Eurocentrism, how the west portrays the other and how the subaltern group often is overlooked in history.