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It is question in this article to analyze a sample of textbooks used in secondary education in Martinique, in 2001-2002. It is a question in the first part of examining the new official instructions which dictate the elaboration of these works. The main purpose of these instructions is to take into account the regional culture, the history and the geographic environment. Second part examines, having defined the notion of culture, the contents of works by looking for there the cultural dimension of the overseas department. In the end of this study, it seems that in French, there is almost n? reference to the literature and to the west-indian culture. There are however new textbooks (manual workers) which propose the study of the history and the geography in the Antilles. In the end of this article, it seems that education in these regions allows the pupils to build bit by bit their own identity.