| From: Mark Stein <Mark.Stein@GW.MUHLENBERG.EDU> List Editor: Mark Stein <Mark.Stein@GW.MUHLENBERG.EDU> Editor’s Subject: H-TURK: CfP: One Island, Many Histories: Cyprus [R Bryant] Author’s Subject: H-TURK: CfP: One Island, Many Histories: Cyprus [R Bryant] Date Written: Mon, 14 Jul 2008 09:54:02 -0400 Date Posted: Mon, 14 Jul 2008 09:54:02 -0400 |
One Island, Many Histories: Rethinking the Politics of the Past in Cyprus A conference sponsored by Peace Research International Oslo (PRIO) Cyprus Centre 21-24 November 2008, Nicosia, Cyprus One of the most divisive elements of the Cyprus conflict is the writing of Cyprus’ history. That history has been dominated by the two main communities, Greek and Turkish, who have written very different versions of the past five hundred years in the island. Those differing narrative strands have often come into conflict and have constituted one of the major impediments to reconciliation. At the same time, the dominance of these nationalist narratives has led to the exclusion of other groups, of other histories, and of other narrative possibilities. This conference aims to investigate how those narratives have emerged, how they are reproduced, and what questions we might ask about the production of those narratives that would help us reorient history writing from a form of division to a form of dialogue. With this aim in mind, the conference is organized around a set of methodological and historiographical questions. Because the questions that historians ask shape the results that they find, this conference proposes that new questions are important for a new orientation. Through this historiographical approach, we seek to investigate the ways in which history is and has been written in the island, as well as what new ways of thinking about the past may be productive for the future. Because the initial point of diversion for the island’s hegemonic histories is 1571, the conference concentrates on the Ottoman, British, and postcolonial periods. We seek proposals from historians and social scientists working on the following themes: 1. Concepts of belonging: Beyond dichotomous identities? Histories of Cyprus have often questioned the emergence or transformation of identities in the island. “Identity,” however, implies sameness and is defined by difference. In the current context, this means that polls in both sides of the island attempt to measure the extent to which persons living in Cyprus feel “Turkish,” “Greek,” “Cypriot,” or a combination of these. Such concepts of identity, furthermore, are often written back into Cyprus’ history to explain the meanings of difference even in the period before nationalisms became hegemonic in the island. How might we rethink the meanings of identity and difference in a pre-nationalist period? And can the concepts of identity currently in use in the academic literature about Cyprus really encompass or exhaust peoples’ senses of belonging to the island? What other concepts might be employed to think, both historically and currently, about those senses of belonging? 2. Historical traumas and collective memory There are certain events in all communities of the island that may be considered “historical traumas,” or traumatic events that play an important role in their collective memory as a people. These include, for instance, the hanging of the archbishop and clergy in 1821; the massacre of Muslims in Crete in 1897; and the Armenian Genocide of 1915. This panel asks how we might understand the formation of such events as historical traumas; their reproduction in collective memory; and the influence of such historical traumas on the writing of history. 3. Other histories and “others’” histories The hegemony of the two main nationalist narratives in the island has left little historical space for other groups, whether linguistic, religious, or ideological. The two primary histories have, moreover, been dominated by masculinist narratives that emphasize relations of power and moments of conflict. In what way might other histories contribute to a rethinking of the politics of history, as well as the history of politics, in Cyprus? 4. Writing official histories This panel seeks to turn a historiographical gaze specifically to the 1960-74 period, asking how the divisive official histories of that period have been written. We seek here to investigate the conditions of those histories’ production, looking at the specific moments in which what came to be the “official” versions of those histories emerged. What are the particular conditions in which certain narratives appeared to reflect Cypriot realities? How did those narratives take on institutional form? And what forms of critique were brought at the moment of their emergence? 5. Official vs. unofficial histories While official histories have often been studied and recognized as such, less attention has been given to the formation of “unofficial” histories, despite the fact that these are often histories that are as well known and well formulated as the “official” ones. The history of the Left on both sides of the island, for instance, falls under the heading of “unofficial” history even as its stories are equally well known. In addition, in the “official” vs. “unofficial” dichotomy, the “unofficial” often acquires the meaning of a hidden “truth” that “official” histories have denied. Is this, in fact, what “unofficial” histories represent? Might there also be other ways of thinking about histories that oppose the main nationalist narratives? 6. Popular histories Popular histories are those ways of explaining the past that may interweave with legends, myths, rumor, and other forms of folk narrative. One particularly potent form of popular history in Cyprus has been the conspiracy theory, but urban legends and the power of rumor have been equally important in shaping the ways in which Cypriots perceive histories, especially local ones. This panel asks what the role of such histories may be in shaping popular discourse, and how such popular histories may in turn influence the writing of academic histories in the island. 7. Social imagination in the post-74 period and its influence on history writing Apart from popular histories, one of the factors shaping academic history in Cyprus is what Charles Taylor has called “social imaginaries,” or “that largely unstructured and inarticulate understanding of our whole situation, within which particular features of our world show up for us in the sense they have.” Such social imaginaries may include forms of discourse, as well as institutions that form the landscapes of daily life. This panel asks what social imaginaries, or concepts naturalized as a type of social background, have shaped histories of Cyprus in the post-74 period. 8. Is there a space for subaltern studies in Cyprus? The past twenty years has seen the emergence of subaltern studies, a branch of historical theory that investigates the conditions of colonialism, including both colonial consciousness and the consciousness of the colonized. In contrast to subaltern studies’ focus on the social history of the colonial period, Cyprus’ colonial history has been dominated by an elite history that leaves little room for investigation of the emergence of discourses, or forms of power and knowledge. What are the reasons for this dominance of elite history? How has it affected our understanding of social movements in the island? And is there anything that we might learn from other colonial historians’ focus on forms of consciousness that emerge in the colonial period? Practical information: The conference will take place over in the buffer zone of Nicosia, Cyprus, over two days, 21-22 November, with a third day, 24 November, set aside for closed workshops amongst meeting participants. We are currently seeking funding for participants’ travel and accommodation and hope to be able to cover most of participants’ expenses. In order to facilitate both workshop discussions and the later publication of an edited volume, participants will be required to send completed papers (approx. 7500 words) by 10 November. Within the framework of the conference itself, participants will be expected to summarize those papers’ findings for a general audience. Please send abstracts of no more than 150 words to: Rebecca Bryant Associate Professor of Anthropology George Mason University Rbryant2@gmu.edu Deadline for receipt of abstracts is 10 August 2008.
