Representing the Russian Revolution in Prescribed Russian School History Textbooks

Abstract

This article offers a new knowledge and insight into understanding the nexus between ideologies, the state, and nation-building—as depicted in transforming images of nation-building and historical understanding of the October 1917 Russian revolution in prescribed history textbooks in the Russian Federation (RF). Using discourse analysis, and historiography, the article examines critically the role of language and ideology in presenting historical narratives in explaining how do representations of the revolution by different historians, from diverse ideological backgrounds, compared to the depiction of the October Revolution of 1917, in Russian school textbooks. Classroom teachers and historians, using historiography, interpret the 1917 October revolution in Russia in different ways. These different interpretations reflect the way in which historical understanding and historical knowledge, influenced by dominant ideologies, are created in history. Current prescribed Russian history textbooks for senior secondary students, which are approved by the Ministry of Education and Science, now regard the Russian Revolution as a significant part of a foundation narrative, representing a re-invented new meta-narrative of nation-building in the RF.