1st Edition
When Greeks and Turks Meet Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Relationship Since 1923
The relationship between the history, culture and peoples of Greece, Turkey and Cyprus is often reduced to an equation which defines one side in opposition to the other.The reality is much more complex and while there have been and remain significant divisions there are many, and arguably more, areas of overlap, commonality and common interest.This book addresses a gap in the scholarly literature by bringing together specialists from different disciplinary traditions - history, sociology, anthropology, linguistics, literature, ethnomusicology and international relations, so as to examine the relationship between Greeks and Turks, as well as between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, since the founding of the Republic of Turkey in 1923. When Greeks and Turks Meet aims to contribute to current critical and comparative approaches to the study of this complex relationship in order to question essentialist representations, stereotypes and dominant myths and understand the context and ideology of events, processes and experience. Starting from this interdisciplinary perspective and taking both diachronic and synchronic approaches, the book offers a fresh coverage of key themes including memory, history and loss; the politics of identity, language and culture; discourses of inclusion and exclusion. Contributors focus on the geographical areas of Greece, Turkey and Cyprus and on the modern historical period (since 1923) up to the present day, offering in some cases an informed perspective that looks towards the future. When Greeks and Turks Meet will be essential reading for students and researchers working on the cross-roads of Greece, Turkey and Cyprus, on South-East Europe and the Middle East more generally. It will also be a valuable resource for students and researchers in inter-cultural communication, cultural and media studies, language and education, international relations and politics, refugee and migration studies, conflict and post-conflict studies.
Biography
Vally Lytra is Lecturer in Languages in Education, at Goldsmiths, University of London. She is also Visiting Research Fellow at the Centre for Hellenic Studies, King's College London, and convened the 'Greek Turkish Encounters Lecture Series' from 2003 to 2008. She is the author of Play Frames and Social Identities. Contact Encounters in a Greek Primary School (2007). She has also co-edited Multilingualism and Identities across Contexts: Cross-disciplinary Perspectives on Turkish-speaking Youth in Europe with Jens Normann Jørgensen (2008) and Sites of Multilingualism: Complementary Schools in Britain Today with Peter Martin (2010).
'... an important text which could be usefully read alongside other 'post-nationalist' histories... Unlike some texts criticising nationalism in former Ottoman lands, When Greeks and Turks Meet does not romanticise the empire as a haven of multicultural peace. Instead it attempts to demonstrate how the nationalist view of relations between the two peoples is a distinctly modern one that neglects a long history of coexistence... it is an accomplished and accessible text that will be useful to students with an interest in Turkey and Greece, as well as to those interested in the study of nationalism.' LSE Review of Books '... a wide ranging and substantial survey of Greek and Turkish contacts, quarrels and mutual perception since the 1923 Lausanne convention on the exchange of population. It is very much an academic book, fully referenced, up to date with recent theoretical work on matters such as identity, self perceptions, stereotypes, discursie spaces, discourses of exclusion, and all the rest.' The Anglo-Hellenic Review ’...a very useful contribution to a topic of high scholarly and political significance.’ Global Affairs Online
