Siti Sudartini, Kasiyan
This study examines the hegemony of Western character values as represented in illustration images of English textbooks used at junior and senior high school levels in Indonesia. The object of the study is visual imagery accompanying English language learning materials, which functions as an influential medium for transmitting cultural values and ideological assumptions in postcolonial educational contexts. The study aims to identify dominant forms of Western character hegemony embedded in textbook illustrations and to analyze factors contributing to the persistence and normalization of such representations.The scope of the study includes nine English textbooks officially used in Indonesian secondary education, consisting of four junior high school and five senior high school textbooks published by major national publishers. Employing a qualitative research design, the study adopts an interpretive–hermeneutic approach with a deconstructive orientation. Illustration images are treated as visual texts and analyzed through systematic documentation, thematic categorization, and interpretive reading to uncover ideological patterns embedded in visual representations. The findings reveal three interrelated forms of Western character hegemony: (1) obsession with Western bodily representation, which normalizes Western physical appearance as pedagogically appropriate; (2) obsession with Western cultural imagery, which presents culturally specific Western practices as universal; and (3) the hegemony of Western superiority, which visually legitimizes hierarchical distinctions between Western and non-Western identities. The study concludes that textbook illustrations actively reproduce postcolonial power relations through visual pedagogy and underscores the need for more culturally reflective and context-sensitive visual representations in English language education. © 2026 Sudartini et al .
Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta, Indonesia
