The representation of the Algerian War in French high school history textbooks

Abstract

Before the 1980s, France's colonial past, and in particular the Algerian Independence War, featured among the blind spots of the official curriculum for lycéens – or high school students. Yet, with the publication of Pierre Assouline's article ‘Faut-il brûler les manuels d'histoire?’ in 1983, critical voices started to call for the integration of controversial subjects such as the Algerian War and the Vichy Regime in the national history curriculum. Based on bibliographical research undertaken at the Bibliothèque nationale de France, this paper investigates the extent to which the Algerian War of Independence has been present in French high school history textbooks published in the period between 1983 and 2017. It analyses the presence or absence of this theme in lycées programmes, particularly at the final-year level (classe de terminale). It also engages with the strategies of representation of the Algerian War, considering the relative absence of details in descriptions of the conflict and formulating possible reasons for this lack of engagement.