Discourse, cultural knowledge and ideology: a critical analysis of Chinese language textbooks

This article examines discourses of cultural knowledge and ideology in Chinese language textbooks currently used for primary school students nationwide in China. Within the framework of critical curriculum theory and using critical discourse analysis, this article critically investigates how discourses of cultural knowledge are constructed and what ideological forces are manifested in the textbooks. First, it identifies a matrix of discourses that construct areas of knowledge through an inter-textual analysis. Then it analyses how textual features, such as lexical choices, grammatical elements and generic structures, are manipulated in the construction of a particular version of cultural knowledge for the child reader. The article concludes that the discourses constructed in the textbooks are a closed system that serves the purpose of social control but not the interest of children.