• Korean Journal of Comparative Education
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.213-238
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• 2017

This paper aims to point out that the contemporary textbook is a common cognitive construct, and that the realistic drawings in the textbooks have played an important role in shaping the world recognition. The main subjects of this study are the racial-ethnic illustrations of elementary school geography textbooks, published by the Japanese Ministry of Education, the Japanese Government-General of Taiwan and Korea, the educational association of Manchu. By comparing the same factors in various textbooks, it examines how the temporal and spatial recognition of the world is adjusted by visual representation. The main findings of this study are three fold. First, the world was introduced to the extent of the sum that the census and the classifications of racial and ethnic groups were adopted. And the world appeared later in the year supported by the racial and ethnic minorities. Second, the expressive style of racial and ethnic groups changed from an emphasis on a heterogeneous part as an object of scientific observation in the early stage to a later one with a life culture similar to the reader. Third, racial ethnic illustrations have been used differently depending on the publishing region in the Empire, giving readers in different regions with different images of the same category. In many cases, it was possible to know the politics of representation and the use of certain racial ethnic illustrations. The textbooks of the first half of the 20th century gave great recognition to the people who could not meet with the readers by using the illustrations. A child in the mainland is aware of his position in a "viewing position" while viewing various empire people through the textbook. On the other hand, in the textbooks of the colonial children, they stood in the position of 'being seen', and showed a change in internalizing the position of the mainland along with the expansion of the empire.