Remembering the Past: The Collective Memory and Historigraphies of Cyprus

Dilan Çiftçi

doi:10.7596/taksad.v7i3.1627

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate the politics of memory and the transformations of memories of historiographies in the Cyprus Conflict. I focus on the collective memory conceptualization that invades Cyprus Conflict, and I investigate Cyprus history textbooks from Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot education system. In this regard, the Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot memories are mostly based on the historiographies, negative memories of between 1958s and 1963s and the heroic partisan struggle strongly clash with negative counter-memories of 1974. The forced remembering of 1974, the Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, which is promoted also by politically institutionalized top-down politics of memory, is created also in the popular, bottom-up memories of the today's negotiations. Such memory politics foster past narratives mostly based on historiographies, creates us and them dichotomy narratives. Moreover, it blurs the negotiation and forgiveness paradigm, when it suddenly becomes the certain point of collective memory of past and present.

Highlights

In recent years, attention to the notion of collective memory has experienced a sharp increase in the literature
Collective memory, in general, is accepted as the process of how society collectively remembers, interprets and forgets their past, and in the case of this thesis how these differently interpreted memories influence the ways in which Cypriots see themselves, judge their circumstances, and at the same time significantly guide their decisions in the present situation of the Cyprus Conflict
The analysis finds that identifying long-lasting links between history-writing and political perspectives is essential for critically understanding the framing of current events in the Cyprus conflict and reconciliation process, which helps in perceiving how both communities view the relative stability and legitimacy of truth and knowledge – especially at a time of growing efforts on negotiation and reconciliation process

Summary

Introduction

Attention to the notion of collective memory has experienced a sharp increase in the literature. Collective memory, in general, is accepted as the process of how society collectively remembers, interprets and forgets their past, and in the case of this thesis how these differently interpreted memories influence the ways in which Cypriots see themselves, judge their circumstances, and at the same time significantly guide their decisions in the present situation of the Cyprus Conflict. It becomes a central actor for both cultural and political discourse; the public attention to collective memory has raised its frequency at conflicting interpretations of the past events. This study will be important since few scholars have focused on identifying collective memory as a cultural product which has led to the neglect of the process of collective memory construction and the main sources of these construction processes as well

Literature Review

Archived Memory and Historical Time

Discussion and Conclusion