REPRESENTATIONS OF CULTURAL IDENTITY IN A CRITICAL TEACHING MATERIAL OF DANISH CULTURE
REPRESENTATIONS OF CULTURAL IDENTITY IN A CRITICAL TEACHING MATERIAL OF DANISH CULTURE

Summary/Abstract: Starting from the premise that critical reflection is essential to achieving cultural awareness/understanding (Phipps & Gonzalez 2004, Benett 2009, Man Ling 2005), this paper analyses the ways in which ‘cultural identity’ is represented in a more recent material for teaching Danish culture. The aim is to assess the potential which such representations hold for encouraging critical reflection on the learners’ part. The theoretical framework of the analysis reflects a social-constructivist critical standpoint and employs Birgitta Frello’s (2012) concept of ‘collective identity’ as a structuring principle for examining representations of Danish identity in the teaching material. The analysis leads to the conclusion that Danishness both viewed as national identity and ethnicity is problematized rather than taken for granted in the teaching material, which importantly provides the ground for a teaching/learning practice that involves a critical or intercultural perspective.

• Details
• Contents