Abstract
The teaching of the history of Islam of the Arabs as it was conceived in history textbooks in France, between 1948 and 2008, could it constitute an image of the Other one stereotyped ? Does the story conveyed in these textbooks present a distorted and frozen conception of the otherness ? This research is based on one of the most enduring, consistent and universal elements in the school system : the textbook. True object of cultural representation (Choppin, 1980), it is a multiple tool and its responsibilities are numerous. Result of the difficult process of didactic transposition, bringing the cultural object of reference to the taught object, it is source of knowledges, understandings and representations for the pupil. It is also the vector of skills deemed necessary by society and values of social and cultural cohesion that it wants for these future citizens (school programs). It is also a reflection of the state of knowledge of an era and the vision of its history. From these various requests, content choices are then made, autonomously, by textbook authors. Influential tool thus, the textbook is also support for the teacher especially when he has little knowledge over the subject. Although it is complex to know which uses the teachers make it in their classrooms, the latter present to the reading a vision of the Other (not always foreigner) sometimes alter and sometimes alien. Textbook research is therefore an ideal field for exploring how the history of Islam and Arabs is taught in textbooks and its implications for the conception of the Other, through its relationship with the One. Through a corpus of two-hundred and twenty two history textbooks, published between 1948 and 2008, eighty photos, more than a hundred extracts and about ten maps were selected.To include the analysis of textbooks in the field of cultural history makes it possible to bring out the social dimension of this subject, that is to say "the set of collective representations specific to a society" (Ory, 1987). The cultural analysis of representations of Islam and Arabs is then inspired by both studies on the constitution of otherness and textbooks. By linking "closely the study of texts, that of material objects and the uses they engender in society" (Chartier, 1992), a combination of analyzes (quantitative and qualitative) as well as criteria of stereotypy have been established to review these manuals and answer our initial questions.Relations between France and Islam are very old, full of controversy, torment, passions and sharing. They are the result of historical experiences peculiar to this particular relationship and transmit a strong memory, presenting at the same time misunderstandings, reciprocal, and ideals. What separates is more likely to be successful than what brings people together, but could it be that these misunderstandings come from textbooks prone to producing a stereotypical image of the Other in order to reinforce beliefs in a conflict between two worlds?All these intertwined dimensions give this study an original and interesting vision and bring a different perspective on the representation of otherness.