Abstract
The authors examine in this chapter how LGBTI* (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans*, and inter*) is considered in textbook research, analysing the relevant studies with regard to the conceptualisations of LGBTI* and the methods employed in those studies. The main focus of this chapter are the insufficiencies in present textbook research on LGBTI*, which starts with the subsumption of non-normative genders and sexualities under the umbrella term ‘LGBTI*’ and which more often than not results in inconsistent terminology. The authors of this chapter suggest to focus on intersectionalities of identifications and—in conjunction—to employ less standardised, more open methods when studying this subject, that is, researching normativities instead of the absence of LGBTI* in textbooks.
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Notes
- 1.
The appended asterisk * is used to make visible the endless possibilities of gender identifications and sexualities. Through this we point out that the acronym ‘LGBTI’ represents just a narrow range of possibilities and is already subject to processes of normalisation /normalised naming by way of categorisation.
- 2.
‘Schulbücher haben einerseits also einen Einfluss auf Fremd- und Selbstbilder der SchülerInnen und sind andererseits eine Abbildung derzeitiger gesellschaftlicher Normen.’
- 3.
As Wylie (2012, p. 143) puts it: ‘Students tend to take knowledge at face value and seldom question the assumptions and interpretations of the text.’
- 4.
‘In Duden Biologie 7/8 ist einer der Jungen Schwarz, was als positives Beispiel für Diversity angeführt werden kann, während es außerdem vermeidet einer rassistischen Funktionalisierung von Homophobie als Problem von z.B. muslimischen Menschen statt als gesamtgesellschaftliches Problem in die Hände zu spielen.’
- 5.
Posing semantically open-ended questions does not change the matter, for example, in Hickman’s formulation: ‘How do schools and their curricula—as demonstrated in textbook content—marginalize students who are, or are perceived to be, LGBT?’ (2012, p. 71). ‘How?’ in this context is equivalent to ‘Whether?’, as the evidence found in the textbooks answers both questions equivalently.
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Höhne, M.S., Heerdegen, D. (2018). On Normativity and Absence: Representation of LGBTI* in Textbook Research. In: Fuchs, E., Bock, A. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Textbook Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-53142-1_17
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