ABSTRACT
The seemingly seismographical political shifts in South African society have given rise to much literature claiming to provide insights into the dynamics and direction of present events. Some is of the crystal ball variety; some attempts a much more serious analysis. The past, too, has come under review; this chapter is concerned with the teaching of history in the 1990s in a society which is in the process of political transformation. While we are critical of some of the latest ‘official’ literature on history education, we are fully aware of the many pitfalls and problems involved in the restructuring process, not least those associated with race, class, gender and the nature of academe. Such disclaimers notwithstanding, there seems to us to be a need to discuss the distortions of the international discourse on ‘nation-building’, ‘group identity’ and ‘multiculturalism’ currently used in the debate about refashioning the history curriculum in schools.
