History and Its Discontents: Towards a Common History in Cyprus?*

What do we think when we think about history? A narrative that covers the summary of 'what happened'? Or wars, conflicts etc.? Considering history as a way of narrative gives one an impression that there is no such a thing called 'unbiased history' because, language and discourse, inevitably subjective ―that is, we, as subjects are subjected to the structure.

Is there any relationship between narrative, national identity, and official policies? It is a fact today that there is a relationship between narrative and construction of a national identity. That is why, official policies insist that 'their' narrative is the 'ultimate truth', whereas, 'the other' is someone that cannot be trusted because 'they are the ones who made us suffer' throughout years and so on.

Regarding Cyprus, an island that has a notorious history about ethnic violence since the mid 50s, history education, in particular, has been using/used to perpetuate the official policies on both sides. In other words, history education is being used to 'create national identity' that is based on mistrust, hence division. For example, the old Cyprus history textbook that was used on the north side of the island, pointed out that “Cyprus is a geographical extension of Anatolia” (Serter 1999, p. 7) and “EU as a rotten apple and poisoned carrot”, which clearly show the discourse of the official policy during that time.

However, what we have seen with the research that was done by POST-Research Institute (POST-RI) is that this 'old discourse' has been replaced by a 'new discourse' that is based on the notion that 'Cyprus is our homeland'. In that sense, we can argue that this 'new discourse' that replaced as 'Cyprus is our homeland' points out to a different worldview. Instead of promoting mistrust, fear, and hatred towards the 'other' (that is Greeks and/or Greek Cypriots), new Cyprus history textbooks that was revised, for the first time after 31 years after 1974, in 2005 talks more about the social history of Cyprus. For example, there are some examples that talks about how Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots collaborated during the Second World War while working in the Cyprus Army. Or, how the Turkish and Greek Cypriots had a common football league. Names of the villages or places are given both in Turkish and Greek that gives one an idea that Cyprus is not only the homeland of the Turkish Cypriots but also the Greek Cypriots.

Another thing that the project has documented is that new Cyprus History textbooks are student-centred and promotes students as researchers, or discuss the issues in class that did not exist in the old textbook. These can be seen through using some visual materials, pictures and caricatures in particular. However, the interviews that were done with teachers show the fact that, although textbooks are written in terms of 'new pedagogical methods', when it comes to apply these, there are some problems: such as, given the limited time, inevitably, teachers must use the old way of teaching; there is a need to train the teachers since most teachers are not familiar with the new ways of teaching etc.

In conclusion, “...although an important step has been taken in terms of peace education in the northern part of the island, more work needs to be done. The revised textbooks offer a pathway which should be built on and taken forward. This is essential if we are to see a different method of both history teaching and learning, and the development of a new generation of citizens who will be able to live and work in a multicultural environment.” (POST-RI 2007, p. 55). In other words, in order to promote peace in Cyprus through education can be done only if 'two sides' use the same language. Through this, as Derrida argues, 'the third intervenes' and that is the beginning of reconciliation (Derrida 2001, p. 49).

* First published in Greek as "Η Ιστορία και οι δυσκολίες της", Revma (PEYMA) Magazine, February 2009.

References

Derrida, Jacques. “On Forgiveness”. On Cosmopolitanism and Forgiveness. London & New York: Routledge, 2001.

Kıbrıs Tarihi, 1. Kitap: Ortaokullar İçin Tarih Kitabı. [Cyprus History, Volume 1: History Book
for the Secondary Schools]. Lefkoşa: KKTC Milli Eğitim ve Kültür Bakanlığı, 2005.

Kıbrıs Tarihi, 2. Kitap: Ortaokullar İçin Tarih Kitabı. [Cyprus History, Volume 2: History Book
for the Secondary Schools]. Lefkoşa: KKTC Milli Eğitim ve Kültür Bakanlığı, 2005.

Kıbrıs Tarihi, 3. Kitap: Ortaokullar İçin Tarih Kitabı. [Cyprus History, Volume 3: History Book
for the Secondary Schools]. Lefkoşa: KKTC Milli Eğitim ve Kültür Bakanlığı, 2005.

POST-Research Institute. Project on education for peace II. Textual and visual
analysis of the lower secondary school history textbooks – Comparative analysis of
the old and the new history textbooks. Nicosia, POST-RI, 2007.

Serter, Vehbi Zeki. Kıbrıs Tarihi (The History of Cyprus). Nicosia: n.p, 1999.