A/68/296 I. Introduction 1. The present report is the first of two consecutive studies by the Special Rapporteur on historical and memorial narratives in divided and post-conflict societies being submitted to the General Assembly in 2013 and the Human Rights Council in 2014. The present report pertains to the writing and teaching of history, with a particular focus on history textbooks. In the second report, the Special Rapporteur will focus on memorials and museums. 2. Most, if not all, societies today face challenges in terms of the writing and teaching of history, in particular those that have seen international or internal conflicts in the recent or less recent past; post-colonial societies; societies that have experienced slavery; and societies challenged by divisions based on ethnic, national or linguistic background, religion, belief or political ideology. The ability of people, in various contexts, to have access to and have acknowledged their own cultural heritage, and that of others, in terms of historical narratives, to have access to information and education and to develop critical thinking and an understanding of the realities and perspectives of others is at stake. 3. Throughout her country visits, the Special Rapporteur has noted the paramount importance of history writing and teaching for people’s identities, sense of belonging and relationships with societal others and the State. Taking an approach to history writing and teaching that is based on human rights invites further thinking about the objectives of education in general and of history teaching in particular. It also calls for more debates, in the context of nation-building, on ways to articulate policies aimed at peace, fostering mutual understanding between people and communities and providing the spaces necessary for various communities to present their perspectives on their own history, which they consider to be an integral part of their identity and cultural heritage. 4. Nation-building and community-building processes use narratives that usually interweave stories, myths and legends with history. Becoming a part of the community’s cultural heritage, such narratives enable the transmission to younger generations of cultural references on which community members build their cultural identity. In the present report, the Special Rapporteur tackles a different, albeit related, issue: the way in which history, understood as a discipline, is taught in schools. She seeks to identify under which circumstances the historical narrative promoted by the State in schools becomes problematic from a human rights perspective. 5. The Special Rapporteur’s two studies on historical and memorial narratives suggest that there is a need for further reflection on the possible interaction between the teaching of history and the wider processes of collective memorialization. History is an academic discipline based on rigorous and systematic research of historical sources using confirmed methods and providing ascertainable results. History is only one of several elements influencing collective memory, which, in addition to information provided within kinship and community circles, draws upon numerous sources, such as literature, the media, entertainment industries, cultural landscapes, official holidays and memory extracts from the past that recall certain events, actions or persons from a particular perspective and without necessarily recalling the wider context. Memory constructs a specific vision of a collective self and attendant value system. Memorialization processes are emotional by definition, 4/27 13-42291