Imagining the modern : the cultures of nationalism in Cyprus / Rebecca Bryant.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bryant, Rebecca (Professor of anthropology)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Nationalism--Cyprus.

Nationalism.

Ethnic relations.

Cyprus--Ethnic relations.

Cyprus.

Physical Description:

xi, 307 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : I.B. Tauris ; New York : In the U.S. distributed by Palgrave Macmillan, 2004.

Summary:

Imagining the Modern argues that two conflicting styles of nationalist imagination led to the violent rending of Cyprus in 1974 and sustained that division over decades. Basing her study on comparative research in both southern and northern Cyprus, Rebecca Bryant demonstrates how the conflict emerged through Cypriots' encounters with modernity under British colonialism, and through a consequent reimagining of the body politic in a new world in which Cypriots were defined as part of a European periphery. Her book describes how Muslims and Christians in Cyprus were transformed into Turks and Greeks through a political process that made language and history important to claiming rights. Fundamental differences between Greek and Turkish nationalisms in Cyprus were to become predicated on a divergence between the communities in the meaning and logic of history. Greek Cypriot history assumes the primordial inevitability of blood ties, such that Turkish Cypriots are usually seen as descendants of converted Greeks. In contrast, Turkish Cypriot history stresses historical contingency (the Ottoman conquest of 1571), accommodation and acculturation as social foundation. These differing meanings of history took on significance and gained momentum as the traditional 'high' cultures of the two communities became available to the masses. This compelling and original study reflects on the diverse styles of nationalism and of its emergence in modernity.

Contents:

Part 1 Stirrings

1 Rights and Religions 20

2 Bandits and "Bad Characters" 48

Part 2 Movements

3 Tactics and Truths 79

4 Pashas and Protests 99

Part 3 Revolutions

5 Educating Ethnicity 129

6 An Education in Honor 156

Part 4 Aftermath

7 The Purity of Spirit and the Power of Blood 190

8 Justice or Respect? 217

Conclusion: Toward a Postnational Cyprus 249.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [253]-300) and index.

ISBN:

185043462X

1850434611

OCLC:

53460185