This paper analyses representations of the ‘core Soviet era’ (1945-1985) in Estonian post-Soviet history textbooks (1989-2016). Attitudes towards the Soviet system have been a rich resource for identity building, and hence a powerful political tool across the whole of the post-Soviet block. Based on an analysis of sections about the Soviet era in Estonia in 21 textbooks, the paper takes a look at how textbooks reflect broader processes of social meaning making, identity building and othering after a profound social and political turn. In 1989 and during the early 1990s, perspectives and narratives in Estonian history textbooks were closely related to social memory and national politics, enacting a specific social representation of the Soviet era that dominated the Estonian-speaking public space during the 1990s. The Soviet era, Russia and local Russians became the main Others for Estonia and Estonians. Over time, public discourse has diversified. The national curriculum and textbooks, however, still maintain the canon that formed in 1990s and thus reflect earlier sentiments. Apart from the increasing salience of Soviet-era daily life in more recent textbooks, the thematic choices and emphases have changed little since the 1990s. Therefore, even if the style of writing has ‘cooled down’, issues of identity preservation, resistance and accommodation, together with a saliently negative representation of wrongdoings by the Soviet system, still prevail. On the one hand, this testifies to the resilience of an established tradition in the textbook genre in general. On the other hand, it reflects the dominance of an ethnocentric tradition in Estonian history textbook writing. The paper discusses the implications of these findings for interethnic relations in Estonia.
When group interests conflict in the present, a historical period often becomes an arena where conflict is fought out symbolically. In the former Eastern block, one such period is the post-WWII Soviet period. The question of how to evaluate the Soviet period still produces controversial answers and is a frequent matter of social and political contention. In Estonia the two main ethno-linguistic communities – native Estonian-speakers and native Russian-speakers – remember the Soviet era differently: native Estonian-speakers evaluate the era much more negatively than native Russian-speakers. This ‘mnemonic conflict’ causes difficulties in history teaching because what Russian-speaking students have heard at home may conflict with what they hear from a teacher or read in history textbooks. In addition, some native Russian-speaking students may be offended by how the Soviet era is represented in these textbooks. They may feel that, since the Soviet era is represented as a time of Russian oppression in Estonia, they too, as Russians, will be cast in a negative light in the textbooks. Moreover, native Estonian-speaking students also view the Soviet era as something increasingly distant and difficult to comprehend.
The first aim of the study was to research the representations existent in Estonian history textbooks about the Soviet era, specifically the period between 1945 and 1985. The second aim was to discuss the possible implications of textbook representations for intergroup relations in Estonia.
I analysed the relevant sections about the Soviet era in 21 textbooks that were published between 1989 and 2016. By doing so, I reconstructed the main trends in representing the post-WWII Soviet era (1945-1985). I had the following research questions in mind when analysing the textbooks: What themes constitute the post-war Soviet era in the textbooks, and from what perspectives are the themes approached? How do the textbooks relate to social memory and politics after a profound social and political turn? What changes can be detected in the textbook representations over time? What may be the implications for students from ethnic minorities (specifically, Russian-speakers) and students from the majority (Estonian) group? I paid attention to 1) explicit and clearly visible topics; and 2) less explicit, underlying themes. I found that except for the increasing prevalence of Soviet-era daily life in more recent textbooks, the thematic choices and emphases have changed little since the 1990s. At the same time, the style of writing has cooled down in the textbooks. So on the surface, the textbooks have become friendlier towards Russian-speaking students. However, due to the stability of thematic choices, the textbooks are still clearly written with native Estonian-speaking, rather than Russian-speaking, students in mind. That is to say, underlying themes still speak mainly to ethnic Estonians, rather than to any other possible group of readers.
These findings help explain why some Estonian native Russian-speakers are still offended by the way in which the Soviet era is depicted in textbooks. The findings also demonstrate the importance of paying attention to both the visible, surface level, and underlying deep level of a text when analysing and evaluating school history textbooks. Both levels can have an impact on intergroup relations in at least two ways: 1) they can affect how a group of readers feels when reading the textbook and how it makes them feel about another social group with which they associate the textbook; and 2) they can affect what stereotypes about the self and the other the text enhances or reduces.
Estonia is a country that has gone through several radical ruptures of political regimes, ideology and identity in the last century. After declaring independence in 1918, and reinforcing it in the Independence War (between 1918 and 1920), Estonia lost its independent statehood in 1940 to the Soviet Union. Between 1941 and 1944 the German occupation followed, only to be replaced once more by Soviet rule from 1944 to 1991. Soviet rule has been one of the most divisive historical issues in Estonian society since the collapse of the Soviet Union (e.g.
It is characteristic of post-Soviet countries that the Soviet era is an object of ongoing sense-making, mnemonic clashes, and dialogue (e.g.
School history textbooks are one site where socially contentious topics are elaborated (e.g.
Social remembrance of the Soviet era in Estonia is a classic case of heteroreferential representation of an issue where group- and identity-building works in two directions: One group’s representation of an issue is shaped and strengthened by knowing how it is perceived by a specific out-group (
These mnemonic differences are partly caused by which part of the Soviet era one has in mind: Stalin’s time, or ‘late Socialism’ (
A recent study showed that apart from WWII, the Soviet era is still among the most sensitive issues for Estonian history teachers. The reasons seem to differ for teachers of Estonian- and Russian-speaking students: While a teacher who taught mainly Estonian-speaking students explained that the era was difficult to teach about because “the present generation doesn’t get that absurd time” (
All the more important is the role of history textbooks as facilitators in history teaching. Textbooks have the potential to mediate between different positions both by offering a balanced and neutral view, and by explaining different positions (
Based on existing research in Estonia, one can assume that history teachers find little support from textbooks when dealing with memory conflicts in society. First of all, there is the feeling among Russian-speaking teachers and students that the textbooks represent a narrow Estonian perspective – indeed, some Russian-speaking students seem to think of textbooks as government propaganda (
Given such divergent perceptions, even among professionals who use the textbooks daily, it is crucial to see what a close reading of the textbook discourse, as it developed over time, will reveal. To the best of my knowledge, no analysis specifically focusing on representations of the Soviet era in Estonian textbooks is yet available. Some authors have touched upon representations of the period when analysing other aspects, such as representations of the Other, in history textbooks: representations of minorities and neighbouring states over a longer time span, or representations of selected sensitive issues (e.g.
This paper analyses representations of all salient aspects of the post-WWII Soviet era rather than merely well-known problematic aspects such as immigration or Stalinist crimes, because both in social memory and in textbook representations it is also the interplay of different aspects, and divergent evaluations attached to them, that contribute to the sensitivity of the Soviet era.
From its beginnings as a modern school subject in Europe and other Western countries in the 19th century, history teaching has served political, identity-related and patriotic interests (e.g.
There is a wealth of research on history textbooks as one of the most significant tools of enactment and transmission of collective memory, identity and worldview (e.g.
Yet another factor is the method of textbook reproduction. Some publishers produce new textbooks by new authors frequently, whereas others recycle the same books for decades. In both cases – recycling old material and writing new – existing texts and discourses are influential. In the textbook genre, the copy-paste effects that occur when a new textbook is based on an old one from the same authors or publishers are particularly notable. Often one can speak of parts of textbooks reproducing themselves even without the authors noticing (cf.
Education discourses were no exception to the profound changes that occurred in Estonian society since 1987 and 1988. Within a teacher-initiated grassroots movement, the need to change hitherto Soviet ideology-based history teaching was cautiously discussed since 1987 and several provisional syllabi were proposed already in 1989. Nevertheless, the first mandatory national curriculum was issued only in 1996 (
Altogether, three national curricula have been mandated in post-Soviet Estonia: in 1996, 2002, and 2011 (
In the introductory course in grade 5, the main aim is to raise interest in the subject. No topics are prescribed and teachers are free to decide how to introduce the new subject. Based on existing research it seems that teachers prefer to do this in a rather traditional manner, mainly using textbooks that present a chronological overview of Estonian history (
From grades 6 to 9 the first Eurocentric overview of world history, with chapters on Estonian history, is provided. In grade 9, 20th century history is studied with separate chapters about Estonia.
At upper secondary level (grades 10 to 12), a similar round of world history is reiterated. Until 2011, a separate course on Estonian history was compulsory at the upper secondary level in addition to courses on 20th century world history. Schools could decide which of these courses to teach at grade 11 and which at grade 12. Since the curriculum revision of 2011, 20th century Estonian history has been integrated into the courses on world history.
In 1996, the upper secondary section of the curriculum detailed the topic of the
As can be seen in the
The keywords are not elaborated further in the curricula. Only by studying the related textbooks’ contents – the canon in the sense of “a shared framework of historical interpretations [..] consisting of a range of selected historical facts and interpretations” (
There are no regional or other differences in the range of textbooks used in general education schools except the school’s language of instruction which I address briefly below.iv
Until 2007, the state supervised textbook production through the Subject Council of History – a state-approved but independent body of acknowledged history teachers, scholars and textbook authors, partly the same people who participate in curriculum design (
School textbooks are normally not purchased by students – or their parents – in Estonia. Instead, schools buy the textbooks by means of a specific state subsidy, and lend them out to students. The teachers officially have the freedom to use any material in their lessons, as long as they follow the curriculum. If there are alternatives on the market, schools decide which textbooks should be bought. Usually the teacher of a particular subject or the school’s librarian makes the decision (
New textbooks appear relatively rarely and there are few alternatives available due to the small market size. The specific textbook provision method and the fact that the curriculum has changed little over time imply that the textbooks have no expiry date (cf.
A selection of Estonian textbooks has been translated into Russian for the Russian-speaking schools (
To answer the research questions, I collected all history textbooks on post-WWII Estonian or world history, published in Estonian for general education schools between 1989 and 2016, including revised versions of earlier texts. In total, there are 25 such textbooks (cf.
Time of Publication | Grade 5: Estonian History | Grades 6 to 9: Estonian or Contemporary History | Upper Secondary: Estonian History (Grade 11 or 12) | Upper Secondary: Contemporary History (Grade 11 or 12) | General interest textbook used in schools |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1989 | |||||
1991-2000 | |||||
2001-2010 | |||||
2011-2016 |
From all post-WWII history textbooks that were published in the timespan studied, the condition that the textbook must include a substantial treatment of the Soviet era in Estonia or the Baltic states leaves out three grade 5 textbooks (
The first two ‘post-Soviet’ textbooks appeared in 1989, even before the Soviet era was officially over. The first textbook that re-interpreted the whole Soviet narrative in Estonia was
The other textbook that appeared in 1989 (
The analysis proceeded in two steps. The first part of the analysis aimed to find out through which aspects the Soviet era is represented in the textbooks. The thematic analysis (
As the study focuses on the Soviet-era
Whereas in the first part of the analysis I describe the manifest themes as they appear in the textbooks and point out typical characteristics of each of them, the second part of the study discusses underlying themes present beneath the manifest layer. The underlying, deep themes mediate between national storylines or master narratives (as studied by many scholars of history and memory; e.g.
Categories in 1996, 2002, and 2011 curricula and their commentaries. Grade 9 and upper secondary levelvii | Salience in Textbooks. 1989-2016. Grades 5, 9 and upper secondary level |
---|---|
Political structures | Short mentions in grade 5 textbooks, prominent treatment in most grade 9 and upper secondary textbooks. |
Border changes | Short reviews in most grade 9 and upper secondary textbooks, no mention in grade 5 textbooks. |
Repressions | Prominent treatment in most textbooks; at least short mentions in all textbooks. |
Resistance | Prominent treatment in most textbooks; at least short mentions in all textbooks. |
Economy | Prominent treatment in all textbooks. |
Population changes | Prominent treatment in some textbooks; at least short mentions in all textbooks. |
Culture and daily life | Prominent treatment in most textbooks, except for some upper secondary textbooks. High professional culture more prominent in grade 9 and upper secondary textbooks, everyday life more prominent in grade 5 textbooks. |
All the core topics of the curriculum are present in all textbooks from 1989 already – except for the topics
In short, inductive coding shows that no other topics take up as much space across the textbooks as the ones that are also present in the curriculum. Rather, the smaller topics and topoi that recur in the textbooks can all be related to curriculum categories. Therefore, one can say that from 1989 onwards the textbooks of all grades contributed to defining a canon that has largely remained the same since then.
More specifically,
Almost all of our lives were managed from Moscow. All decisions on the economy, governance and people’s everyday lives were made by the Communist Party, which was the only party allowed in the Soviet Union. (
A central issue in the representations of the power structures is the clash between Estonian and Soviet interests. While implied as self-evident in textbooks published later, a textbook published in the early 1990s formulates this conflict of interests explicitly:
The main (unresolved) question of post-war Estonian history is the struggle between the inner logic of Estonian social development, and an imposed Stalinist system; a struggle to preserve ESTONIA. The central axis of this struggle focuses mainly on the relationship between the Moscow and Tallinn authorities and power apparatuses: how much did Moscow decide, how much did Tallinn decide? Which instructions, received from the Centre, could be softened in Estonia; which instructions were implemented even more severely and incompetently? Within a totalitarian system it was not possible to change the essence of the system, but within certain limits it was possible to play with how earnestly the instructions were followed. (
In contrast to the border issue, the topics of
The plan was to deport 7,500 families, that is 22,326 people, from the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic, of whom only 3,077 were ‘kulak’ families. The remaining 4,432 families belonged to the so-called German henchmen, bandits (Forest Brothers), their helpers, and ‘other anti-Soviet elements’ [..]. In addition to the 7,500 families a reserve – 1,906 families – was planned [..]. This means that during the deportation it was important to comply with the planned numbers. (
A more emotional tone is present in the textbooks that use eyewitness accounts of the hardships and deaths during the deportation process and in Siberia.
In addition,
Due to the forced collectivisation in 1949, which was interconnected with a large-scale deportation of farmer families (21,000 people) to Siberia in 1949, the treatment of agriculture in the Stalin era is always related to the repressions at that time. Similarly,
According to the orders of the central power, large factories and mines that didn’t suit the local conditions were established. Their produce was mainly exported. To obtain the necessary workforce, thousands of Russian-speaking people were moved here, so that Estonians faced the danger of becoming a minority in their own country. (
Immigrants did not want to learn Estonian and they didn’t understand our culture and history. To accommodate the foreign people who had come here, new residential areas were built with identical large apartment buildings. (
While sometimes only the “demographic misbalance” is explicitly mentioned, as in the quote above, in many textbooks immigration is more or less explicitly equated to
In Estonia a number of new factories, mines and power plants were built that Estonia didn’t need at all. The output of these companies went to the East, while here there was industrial pollution and workers with no knowledge of the language and with a cultural background and habits alien to us [..]. The goal of the Kremlin leaders was [..] to create a new, Russian-speaking, ‘Soviet people’. In this, too, they were partly successful: among the foreigners who settled in Estonia there were many landless nomads who had lost their nationality, language and roots, and who, in addition, were even proud of this. (
In fact, immigration is usually the only context in which minorities are mentioned in the chapters on the Soviet era. They appear as Russian-speaking immigrants who are often represented merely as tools of the industrialisation-oriented Soviet system. In some textbooks they
Why did I go to Tallinn? Why not Moscow? Why not Kiev [..]? There was no rational motivation. Just a car that drove there happened to go by (
A separate section or chapter on high and professional culture disappears from the upper secondary curriculum as an aspect of the Soviet era in 2011 and is omitted from the latest upper secondary textbook (
Often, descriptions of culture refer to the underlying topos of “culture as means of survival”, or “cultural resistance”, more or less explicitly – for example, by mentioning the “writing between the lines” that occurred in poems and novels. Thus, culture is represented as an important support mechanism for Estonians throughout the Soviet era:
In the subsequent decades culture turned into a means of self-preservation for people. Interest in culture was greater than ever. Virtually all new books were sold out and it was difficult to get theatre or concert tickets. Through poetry or drama Estonians could sometimes straighten their backs at least in spirit. (
Both high professional culture and popular culture are depicted as means of survival and resistance.
Resistance to the foreign power increasingly shifted to the cultural sphere. By keeping and promoting national culture, one tried to keep and protect national identity, and to somehow cope with the difficult circumstances. This way, even those who did not dare to take part in direct actions of resistance, could express their protest. (
Some authors extend the concept of cultural resistance to the unspoken and implicit realm of disagreement with Soviet ideology. It is, of course, difficult to present any evidence of how widespread such a mind-set used to be,
Several grade 5 textbooks depict children’s lives, usually focusing on school life:
Smaller children joined the Little Octobrists, slightly older children joined the Pioneers while those who were older still joined the Communist Youth. Although these organisations aimed at raising the children in the spirit of Communism, [in reality] most time was spent organising leisure activities and hiking. (
In the textbooks of the older grades, the treatment of daily life is generally brief and focused on shortages as a significant peculiarity of Soviet life. In fact, while some improvement in daily life is admitted in several textbooks, for example better living standards from the 1960s, this is usually tempered by mentioning the shortages, and often by comparing Soviet Estonian living conditions to Western or even pre-WWII conditions. The deficit of various common goods, particularly from the 1970s onwards, is mainly explained through the dysfunctional planned economy.
In connection with life in Soviet Estonia, contact with and information from the West – represented as the positive counterpart to the Soviet Union – are mentioned in most textbooks. Whereas in one grade 5 textbook the presentation is simplified – “the Soviet people had almost no contact with the rest of the world [..]. People knew little about what happened elsewhere [..]. One attempted to convince the people that one lived in the best country in the world” (
Most grade 9 and upper secondary textbooks stress that Estonia was known as the “Soviet West” within the Soviet Union due to its relatively Western looking goods and fashions. Concurrently it is stressed that Soviet Estonia functioned as a Soviet showcase
Western music, clothing and hippie ideology spread. All of this shaped the Baltic countries into a kind of false Soviet West, where people from the rest of the Soviet Union came to learn about the Western lifestyle. (
A recurring frame through which life during the Soviet era is viewed can be called
[During the years 1953-1964] Society’s values became blurred. Although direct pressure weakened, an increasing number of people settled with the conditions that had developed. For example, even in the most difficult times, during the years of the most terrible Stalinist mass repressions, the majority of Estonians did not turn their backs on the Church. Now it was done. People began building private homes and summerhouses, buying cars, refrigerators and TV sets. (
Indeed, in several textbooks, consumption is represented as adjustment to the Soviet system.
The drawback of this [better living conditions from the 1960s] was that the younger and middle-aged generations adjusted fairly well to the Soviet system. (
This statement, still present in
Indeed, a textbook from 1991 explicitly represents consumption as collaboration:
The cooperation with the authorities that was necessary to get these [deficit] goods was justified as inevitable. Sharing or not sharing deficit goods enabled the party, Soviet and trade union bureaucracy to strengthen social control over individuals in society. (
A contrasting view, also present in several textbooks, can be called
In this situation it wasn’t really possible to set any higher goals. It was good if a person was able to realise themselves in their field, such as science or art, and in personal life by creating a family and purchasing a summerhouse and a Finnish sauna. (
All in all,
Except for the topic of daily life, the topics present in curricula and textbooks remain relatively stable over time. Even the two most recent curricula from 2011 display continuity with their predecessors. The prevalent issues in curricula and textbooks can be explained in two ways. Firstly, they represent dominant themes in traditional historiography: politics, economy and high culture. Second, the way the topics are narrated in the textbooks is underpinned by what is regarded as important in
Together with the manifest topics in the curriculum, the
The present findings align with other studies on Estonian post-Soviet sense-making according to which the issues of
Most of the underlying themes:
In contrast, the prominence of the deep theme
The same does not apply to the post-Stalin years when conditions normalised: when there were no more great ruptures that would overshadow the rest. The underlying themes however retain their importance.
Immigration, industrialisation and urbanisation are connected to
To conclude, it is interesting to see how quickly a profound change can take place in the course of deep social and political transformations, like those that occurred in Estonia around 1990, and how quickly a new, relatively stable representation then formed. As an underlying perspective of textbook narratives, the latter is preserved to this day, even if the wordings and style of expression have cooled down and diversifying nuances have been added. From the perspective of intergroup relations, one consequence of this is that even if outward hostilities are removed at the surface level, the deep themes that underlie them can retain a life of their own. For example, even if Soviet-era immigrants are no longer disapproved of explicitly, or even if the story of deportations is told in a more differentiated way, the story of the Estonian people still includes an underlying antagonism to its eastern neighbour.
A few years ago, the following dialogue took place in a Russian-speaking student focus group about Estonian history:
Irina: For instance, in the Estonian textbook it says that Russians are like, bad, that they occupied Estonian land and... in general, I don’t know, they’re mocking, or... Marina: Negatively... Irina: Well, yes, that’s the evaluation. They love Germans, but Russians... they don’t. (
Why do the students still feel this way, even though the textbooks are becoming more careful in their wordings? The present study identified several factors. Most notably, while empowering for ethnic Estonians, the attribution of agency that underlies the textbooks’ narratives is markedly ethnocentric. As it is visible from representations of immigration, even if represented by means of a neutral wording and not explicitly included among the description of wrongdoings, Russian-speakers appear mainly as tools of the Soviet system. They have little agency even when deciding to come to Estonia. In a similar vein, one of the most salient modes of agency of ethnic Estonians is ‘retaining Estonianness’ as a form of cultural resistance. In
Of course, what happened in the past narrows down what it is possible to narrate. It is also understandable that the early post-Soviet approaches present in the textbooks were a reaction to Soviet-era ideological, indoctrinating approaches (
In general, if a textbook offers no anchors for the convictions and positions that students already hold, they may simply reject the textbook’s story (
All in all, there are several challenges for textbook development stemming from today’s real-world intergroup relations and mutual stereotypes of ethnic majority (Estonian) and minority (Russian) students, their mutual representations, attributions of collective guilt and victimhood as well as analogies that people inevitably draw between the past and the present (
The present study offers an illustration of the interconnections between politics, identities, intergroup relations between majority and minority groups, and education. It does not come without limitations. To start with, only one person conducted the analysis. As in any qualitative analysis, some subjectivity cannot be avoided when delimiting themes, particularly at the latent level of the underlying themes. This must be kept in mind when reading the findings. Although the descriptions and explanations are data-based, there is no conclusive way, and there could not have been even if several authors were engaged, “to be sure that the extracted representation is the ‘right’ one; that we are not tapping our feet to a wrong ‘rhythm’” (
Secondly, deep historical themes and narratives are likely to be perceived in similar ways by many people (
Textbooks are loci of negotiation between authors’ individual positions, academic history and social memory, official and normative positions on how a certain era should be remembered, and didactic positions and curriculum demands. Ideally, representations within textbooks should be loci of
Category | Grade 9 |
||
---|---|---|---|
1996 | 2002 | 2011 | |
Name of the period | Estonia under the Soviet occupation | Estonia under the Soviet occupation | Estonia under the Soviet occupation |
Border changes | (Border changes) | (Border changes) | Border changes |
Repressions | (Mass repressions) | (Mass repressions) | Repressions |
Economy | (Collectivisation and development of agriculture) | (Forced collectivisation) | Collectivisation |
(Industrialisation and development of industry) | (Forced industrialisation) | Industrialisation | |
Population Changes | (Guided migration) | (Guided migration) | — |
Political structures | (Political command. J. Vares, N. Karotamm. The 8th Plenum of Estonian CP Central Commitee. Russian Estonians’ political role. J. Käbin and K. Vaino [Soviet-era leaders of ESSR]) | (Political command Optional topic: The 8th Plenum of Estonian CP Central Commitee) | Political command |
Culture and daily life | (Cultural life during the Soviet era) | (Culture) | Culture |
(Living Standards) | (...and living conditions during the Soviet era) | (...and living conditions) | |
(Connections to the rest of the world) | — | — | |
Resistance | (Resistance movement and dissidence) | (Resistance movement) | — |
Emigree Estonians [not included in analysis] | (Exile) | (Optional topic: Exile Estonians) | — |
Category | Upper Secondary |
|||
---|---|---|---|---|
1996 | 2002 | 2011 | ||
Name of the period | Baltic states under the Soviet occupation |
Estonian SSR | Estonian SSR | Estonian SSR |
Border changes | (Border changes) | — | — | — |
Repressions | (Mass repressions) | (Mass deportations) | (March deportations [1949]) | — |
Economy | — | Economy |
Economy |
Economic development |
(Collectivisation) | (Founding kolkhozes) | (Forced collectivisation) | — | |
(Forced industrialisation) | — | (Forced industrialisation) | — | |
Population Changes | (Guided migration) | Population | Population |
Population |
Political structures | (Political command) | (Political development. The 8th Plenum) | (Administration and governing. Political command. The 8th Plenum. Political thaw and stagnation) | — |
Culture and daily life | — | Culture |
Culture |
— |
— | — | (Everyday life and living conditions) | — | |
— | — | Society | Society | |
Resistance | (Resistance movement) | Resistance to foreign power |
Resistance to foreign power |
Forms of resistance |
Emigree Estonians [not included in analysis] | — | Exile | Exile |
Relations with exile Estonians |
This work was conducted thanks to a KONE Fellowship at Helsinki Collegium of Advanced Studies (Spring Term 2016) and the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research (grant number IUT 20–38). I also thank Aue-Stiftung, Helsinki; the European Union’s COST Action IS1205 “Social psychological dynamics of historical representations in the enlarged European Union”; Estonian Science Foundation grant project ETF9308; and the Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement 691818).
The author declares that no competing interests exist.
The author thanks the editors of the special issue, the two anonymous reviewers, and Dr. Maaris Raudsepp, University of Tallinn, for helpful comments on draft versions of the paper.
‘Russian-speaking’ refers to Russian as a native language rather than monolingualism here. I prefer this term to ‘Estonian Russians’ because it includes other ethnic groups (e.g. Ukrainians) in Estonia who identify as part of the local Russian-speaking community. Since Estonia’s re-independence the proportion of people in this group has sunk below 30 per cent.
As part of Soviet era heritage there are two strands of schools in Estonia, working based on the same national curriculum since 1996 but designed for students with Estonian and Russian native language, respectively. At present, about 20 per cent of Estonian students attend schools for native Russian-speakers, that is, schools where most or some of the subjects are taught in Russian. A growing number of native Russian-speaking students are attending schools with Estonian as the sole language of instruction. These schools are therefore becoming increasingly mixed.
A similar commentary accompanied the next curriculum in 2002 (
The same textbooks are used in vocational schools, comprising about one third of upper secondary level students (
In addition to the translated versions, one shortened textbook version in slightly simplified Estonian language was produced in 2010 (
In a revised version of the textbook by
There are no Soviet era related topics prescribed in grade 5 curricula, however most grade 5 textbooks portray the era optionally as part of Estonian history. ‘Upper secondary level’ means grades 10 to 12. As compared to lower secondary grades 5 and 9, schools have relatively more freedom to decide at which particular grade an upper secondary course is taught. For example, some schools offer the course on Estonian history at grade 11, and others at grade 12. Therefore, in contrast to the lower seconday level, the curriculum as well as most textbooks are addressed at ‘upper secondary’ students rather than at a particular grade.
The question of the ‘truthfulness’ or ‘adequacy’ of the textbook narratives is a separate issue that cannot be dealt with in detail here. Historical narratives cannot really be assessed in terms of their