Textbooks and national Catholicism in the dictatorships of Salazar and Franco

Abstract

This article examines how school textbooks are part of the historical-educational heritage of the education system, not only for their being objects which reflect the memory of the schools but also for their being an indispensable resource for the study of the school culture in any country. Aware that textbooks have been the guardians of the dominant culture of a given historical period and subjected to political as well as religious regulation, the objective of this work is, firstly, to reflect upon the treatment they received with respect to the two basic pillars of society that were politics and religion during the dictatorships of Salazar and Franco; and secondly, to analyse the discursive content of the books, the exercises, and the images included, which will allow us to also interpret the socioeconomic context and the role afforded to the family and to women in a dictatorial regime. As a reference, we shall take up those textbooks which were the most used by children in Portuguese and Spanish schools.