The “Other” in Gazioğlu’s and Onoufriou’s Novels: Cyprus, Nationalism and War Cover Image

Ahmet Gazioğlu ve Andreas Onoufriou’nun Romanlarında “Öteki” İmajları: Kıbrıs, Milliyetçilik ve Savaş
The “Other” in Gazioğlu’s and Onoufriou’s Novels: Cyprus, Nationalism and War

Author(s): ŞevkI Kıralp
Subject(s): Comparative Study of Literature, Greek Literature, Turkish Literature, Studies in violence and power, Nationalism Studies, Theory of Literature
Published by: Uluslararası Kıbrıs Üniversitesi
Keywords: Enosis; identity; 1974; Turkish Cypriot literature; Greek Cypriot literature;

Summary/Abstract: This paper examines the images of “others” in Turkish Cypriot author Ahmet Gazioğlu’s novel War and Love in Cyprus and Greek Cypriot author Andreas Onoufriou’s novel The Native Land in a comparative perspective. Both novels focus on the war in 1974 that constituted a significant threshold for the two communities. Both novels comprise nationalist narratives. While for Gazioğlu, Greeks (particularly the coup makers) and Greek Cypriots are the “others”, for Onoufriou the “others” are Türkiye, Greek Junta, USA, UK and Greek Cypriot terrorist organizations. Onoufriou characterizes Turkish Cypriots as a friendly group constituting a part of the “people” yet emphasizes that they are a “minority”. In Gazioğlu’s novel, for Turkish Cypriots the trustworthy actor is Türkiye and Greek Cypriots are identified with the suppression that made Turkish Cypriots suffer. In the literature, there is a growing trend to analyze novels based on the image of the “other” they present. Nevertheless, the number of studies comparatively analyzing the “others” in Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot novels is not yet satisfactory. This paper aims to fill this gap. This paper utilizes documentary analysis as its main research method. It follows a qualitative, descriptive and comparative methodology.

  • Issue Year: 29/2023
  • Issue No: 116
  • Page Range: 1105-1128
  • Page Count: 24
  • Language: Turkish