The Construction and Mechanism of National Image in American Middle School History Textbooks
Textbooks are an important carrier of national image construction and play an important role in students'national identity.In view of the typicality of national image construction in the United States,it is particularly necessary to pay attention to the national image construction in its textbooks.Therefore,The Americans—United States History Since 1877,a middle school history textbook published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt,is selected,and an analytical framework is established from the conceptual analysis of the national image,to investigate the realistic state of American national image in this textbook from four dimensions:material,system,culture and citizens.It is found that the national image in this textbook has the construction characteristics of integrating collective memory,making good use of"the other"comparison,integrating American values and skillfully using micro-history.It also implies the internal mechanism of constructing national image in textbooks,that is,based on the concerted action of national elites,constrained and regulated by institutional standards,with American values as the logical main line,and with various narrative modes,the multidimensional national image in textbooks can be authoritative.