Engaging with Truth in Encounters with Literary Texts about History

Torunn Skjaerstad, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences

This paper addresses how a group of 9th graders in Norway engaged with truth in encounters with literary texts about The First World War. The learners read and responded to an illustrated book, two poems, and an excerpt from a novel about the First World War in the English subject and responded to them in group conversations and individual written responses. There is a limited collective memory and understanding of the First World War in Norway, mostly because of formal neutrality and involvement in the Second World War. However, the First World War caused an unraveling of stability and societies across the world that had an impact on people’s perceptions and portrayals of war and life (cf. Strachan, 2023), Norway was no exception. Thus, this paper builds on the idea that being introduced to and coming to grips with the history and the legacies of war is important for learners’ education, particularly with regard to critical historical thinking, empathy, and awareness. Further, literary texts about history have been suggested as a fruitful way to enter the historical past and engage in critical historical thinking and empathy (Davison, 2017). Thus, this paper investigates the learners’ responses and addresses how they pondered over the issue of truth and how one could be sure of whether literary texts based on true events and experiences could be considered true and reliable. The paper makes the case that responding to these types of texts can enlighten us about issues that humans have grappled with for generations and to engage in empathetically and critically thinking about the past. References Davison, M. (2017). Teaching about the First World War today: Historical empathy and participatory citizenship. Citizenship, Social and Economics Education, 16(3), 148–156. https://doi.org/10.1177/2047173417736906 Strachan, H. (2023). The Oxford History of the First World War. Oxford University Press.

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 Presented in Session 175. Educational Reforms and Transformations: Selected Experiences from Nordic Countries