Making meaning of grade 10 History textbook back covers

Abstract

“Do not judge a book by its cover” is a phrase often heard. It reminds us not to limit the judgement of a book to just the front cover. The front cover is the first interaction with the book. It draws interest making one want to know more about the book. The front cover does not reveal the entire contents of the book. However, the back cover helps the buyer to make an informed decision in relation to the book’s relevance in topic and ideas as well as the major decision whether to buy the book or move on to the next. For this and other reasons, this study was conducted to make meaning of Grade 10 History textbook back covers. This qualitative study was informed by the interpretivist paradigm and aimed to investigate the multi-layered meanings that may arise when textbook back cover elements are analysed to discover their meaning and intention. A purposive sample of four Department of Basic Education (DBE) approved Grade 10 History textbooks were chosen to investigate the phenomenon – making meaning. Denotation and connotation as branches of philology and iconography served as key analysing methods and provided an all-encompassing meaning of the back covers. Through the application of critical discourse analysis (CDA), four moves, namely commercial, design and layout, academic and curriculum or nature of history and their steps were identified on the covers of the selected history textbooks. These four moves are investigated with special emphasis on academics and the nature of history as these should directly reference the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement History curriculum. My study showed how the visual and historical elements displayed on the back covers have political, social, cultural, commercial and educational elements. These elements direct the historical narratives of the books clarifying what should be present and what is missing while combining to make meaning of the back covers.