A Research on Representation of Hungary and Hungarians in Turkish History Textbooks

Abstract

As it is known, the history textbooks are considered for the countries as one of the most effective means of learning and forming an image about each other. It is accepted that history textbooks are the leading factors in forming international relations, the concept of “others”, and view of the world especially for the individuals in the age of secondary or high school which is considered as the age of developing personality. Thus history textbooks are effective not only in the formation of national personality but also in understanding the world. In this paper, the way Hungary and Hungariansare represented in the textbooks used nowadays is analysed from different aspects, and some suggestions developed about the changes and additions with regard to the content and materials in the textbooks to help the development of Turkish Hungarian fraternity. In the frame of the data obtained so far, it is seen that the concepts about Hungary and Hungarians  handled in the current history textbooks for high schools are not supported with visual aids, and they concentrated mostly on military affairs (wars and treaties), whereas “economical”, “cultural affairs” and fraternity are not handled sufficiently enough.