Re: Gerhard Lehmbruch

>Julian Dierkes asks who were the agents of the construction of such a "public
memory". Besides the media, certainly the educational system was - and still is
- of foremost importance.

I should think that the educational system sets the stage for debate on these
issues, but it is in the public media and pubs where they are actually debated.

One of the things that I have noticed about Japanese students is that they
rarely debate issues of this sort. Because of the general absence of debate
among Japanese students each student assumes that other Japanese think like
himself, when in fact the diversity of opinion among students can be enormous.
In my classes at Saitama University where I have developed an effective system
to evoke public debate on cultural issues, many of my students are amazed by the
diversity of opinion among their classmates.

In Germany debate is largely encouraged among students. In Japan it is not. It
is this difference in Germany and Japan, which would make it difficult to
compare the importance of information found in German and Japanese textbooks
about WWII. Surely, the importance of textbook learning on the formation of
public opinion is much more important in Japan than in Germany, where public
debate also plays a vital role.

Until recently, most Americans knew very little about Japan, and public debate
on Japan was largely non-existant. As a consequence the uniformity of opinion in
the United States about Japanese involvement in WWII is likely to be very great.
Moreover, the proportion of the general public which directly experienced the
war in the United States was far less than in either Germany or Japan, and the
diversity of opinion about the war is likely to be much greater in these latter
countries. War effects many people in many different ways. Textbook
interpretations of the war which are read by children, can only be as effective
in their formation of public opinion, as children's parents permit. Of course
parents living in West Germany may have had greater opportunity to influence
their children 's opinions than those in East Germany.

In conclusion you may want to compare actual public opinion of the war with that
which is offered in textbooks. You are likely to find much more diversity of
opinion than has yet to be indicated.

By the way you have offered some really interesting insights about Germany 's
Vergangenheitsueberwaeltigung, and I am looking forward to hear more.

Now, if I could only find someone to help me identify quickly some could
comparative texts. Did anyone read my last message?

Hashimori, Iwato
Saitama Universitiy
Tel/Fax: 001 81 45 243 4924
qd6i-hsmr[atx]asahi-net.or.jp
hashimori.iwato[atx]iac-online.com