The imagination about the otherness in the manuals of Italy and Tunisia. Is coexistence possible?

Abstract

Analyzing the way in which the manuals tell the story of the otherness
means questioning oneself and one’s construction of identity, which inevitably
takes place through the continuous exchange and confrontation
with other than oneself. It is from the awareness of the relativity of these
identity constructions, which change according to political circumstances
and to the specific needs of the period considered, that the manual, if properly
questioned, becomes an instrument able to disclose important factors
relating to the identity construction and to the imagination about the otherness
and, consequently, about the sense of us in a particular historical period.
The tendency to see the historical narration as legitimate and absolute,
makes the manual a privileged means that is capable of conveying certain
representations that would be deposited in the dominant imagination
about the otherness, particularly if one takes into account the fact that the
whole population learns the history mostly through textbooks.