L’immagine della Seconda guerra mondiale nei manuali di storia cechi (1990–2017)
The Image of the Second World War in Czech History Textbooks (1990–2017)

Summary/Abstract: This paper investigates the visual apparatus of Czech history textbooks published between1990–2017. This time span covers the period following the Velvet Revolutionof 1989 and the subsequent political regime change, extending through to the end ofthe 2010s. The interpretation of the Second World War plays a key role as it also shapesthe reflection on later periods, including the communist regime and the Cold War, aswell as the desire to identify commonalities in the development of the two halves of Europe– Western and Eastern – within the broader European discourse. The paper focuseson analyzing the images that constitute what may be called the visual “catalog” ofthe specific Czech experience during the Second World War. It examines which imagesare commonly shared across textbooks and which ones differ and explores the potentialreasons behind these choices. Particular attention is also given to the issue of the iconicityof the photographs featured in the analyzed texts.

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