Hubert Faustmann and Nicos Peristianis, eds. Britain in Cyprus: Colonialism and Postcolonialism 1878-2006. Mannheim: Bibliopolis, 2006. pp.660.
THE last decade or so has been quite significant in the history of publishing on Cyprus since there has been a proliferation of insightful and groundbreaking works on the island’s culture, society, and tumultuous history.
Britain in Cyprus: Colonialism and Post-Colonialism 1878-2006 makes a timely and valuable contribution to this body of work. The attributes that set this project apart are mainly its scope and size. It is a large and luxurious volume with more than 650 pages that feature 36 wide-ranging articles unified by the theme of Cyprus’ colonial as well as postcolonial history. The 36 contributions address a large variety of issues and connect politics, culture, tourism, language, and literature with British colonial rule of the island. In their individual trajectories these articles relate fascinating information, discussions, and methodological approaches.
With such a broad scope, this book will certainly appeal to all readers with even a remote interest in Cyprus as well as scholars of colonial and postcolonial fields of study. The writing varies from journalistic to theoretical to academic and various, often successful, stylistic blends of these three approaches. The quality of writing is not even throughout, as a number of articles are poorly argued, or they become repetitive, while others may lack structure or coherent methodology. Such unevenness might be expected in a work of this size, and it is somewhat balanced by the fact that the majority of contributions are the result of large amounts of painstaking research.
It is impossible here to summarise all the articles. Nevertheless, to give the reader some idea of the variety of topics dealt with in the book, I offer some general comments on those articles that created the strongest impression on me. Inevitably, these will be articles that deal with topics that have been my object of study, namely literature and culture. These topics are often undertheorised and undervalued in the male dominated arena of political discussions. Petra Tournay-Theodotou’s article “The Empire Writes Back” concerns itself with Greek Cypriot nationalist responses to Lawrence Durrell’s Bitter Lemons of Cyprus, the novel that has, rather sadly, become a Western reference point for Cyprus in the 50s. Applying terms and concepts from postcolonial theory, Tournay-Theodotou establishes that the Greek Cypriot authors Rodis Roufos and Costas Montis “are caught up precisely in this dilemma of seeking self-representation while at the same time resorting to recurrent tropes of anti-colonial nationalist discourse”.
In a fascinating essay, Rebecca Bryant examines the emergence of literate colonised subjects in Cyprus and builds a case for the paradoxical constitution of Cypriots not as individuals in a democratic society but as social creatures belonging to a nationalistic moral community. Dimitra Karoulla-Vrikki investigates the critical issue of language and ethnic identity in colonial Cyprus, connects it to hegemonies and traces the division of the island’s communities in linguistic terms.
The book’s erudite ambition is of such quality that it makes me miss a more comprehensive coverage of cultural issues. The examples I refer to here stand in the midst of numerous articles on British colonial politics and the historical developments around the intercommunal fighting and desire for Enosis on the one hand and partition on the other. Indeed, Brendan O’Malley’s “The Impact of British Strategic Interests on the Cyprus Problem” offers such an outstanding account that it becomes a landmark essay on the subject. However, since culture offers sites for emotional output, human bonding or separation, sharing of sensibility, embodiment of various subjectivities and identities, then examinations of culture offer valuable opportunities for critiquing and reassessing the various historical processes that concern many of the book’s articles.
In their introduction to the volume, the editors outline the main goal of this project: “There has been no satisfactory comprehensive study to date, in English, of the British Colonial period in Cyprus (1878-1960). Nor has there been any systematic assessment of the relations between Cyprus and its former ruler since independence. This collection attempts to close this gap”.
Indeed, this is a varied and extensive volume of work. However, it includes no articles on, for example, how colonialism affected identities other than ethnic Greek and Turkish; sexual and gender identities are left completely unexamined. Also missing is work on interventions and alterations to the Cypriot ecosystem and even legislation that affected the natural landscape of the island. Many of the articles concerned with the economy examine agriculture and the people’s subsistent modes of survival. Work on the natural landscape would complement such studies. Imperial rule has also significantly affected the socio cultural landscape, ushering in all kinds of changes to various important cultural demonstrations such as wedding ceremonies and religious festivals. Again, these do not attract as much research attention as interpretations of various significant historical developments.
Nevertheless, this book stands as a significant accomplishment and a unique, so far, reference to Cyprus and its colonisation history that continues into the present in many ways that range from subtle to salient.
n Stavros Stavrou Karayanni, Chair, School of Humanities and Social Sciences,
European University – Cyprus
