Echoes from the Dead Zone: Across the Cyprus Divide [Hardcover]

Yiannis Papadakis (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 185043428X | ISBN-13: 978-1850434283 | Publication Date: May 19, 2005

The narrative of Cyprus' recent history has created numerous attitudes and prejudices which run deep but which have never before been explored on a human level. Now for the first time Yiannis Papadakis, firmly planted in the Greek Cypriot world, sets out to discover "The Other"-- the much maligned Turks. Papadakis delves into the two communities, locked in their mutually contemptuous embrace, to explore their common humanity and to understand what has divided them.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Packed with historical information. It also contains moving personal testimonies from the kind of ordinary people whose voices are not usually heard above the drum beating din of history. What makes it really memorable though, is its wry humour.' - Irish Times 'He [Papadakis] can also be seen as shedding new light on old wounds - and doing his compatriots an enormous (an enormously healing) favour in the process.' - Irish Times 'Papadakis combines his excellent scholarly skills and personal background to explore the issues of identity, perceptions and narratives in Cyprus... The book is virtually free of academic terminology; stylistically, it is more like a travel book. It is humorous, moving and disturbing.' - Journal of Peace Research 'This bold book could be a cornerstone not simply in the literature, but in the resolution of the Cyprus conflict.' - Global Dialogue 'A poignant account of the ways in which collective identities surface in official and unofficial historical registers... a brave attempt to reappraise the past looking for disciples in anthropology and beyond.' - Rodanthi Tzanelli, Ethnic and Racial Studies 'Papadakis' text stands out as providing a much-needed anthropological and humanist insight into a conflict on which so much has been repeatedly and derivatively published over the years.'- Cyprus Review 'If we do not develop new ways of understanding such conflict, they may well endlessly replicate themselves. Papadakis' superb study makes this point all too clear.' - Cyprus Review Canadian Journal of Sociology Online July- August 2006 'Papadakis, has written a unique book that is a pleasure to read. It should be on the bookshelf of anyone interested in understanding the people of Cyprus and their recent unhappy history.' - Tozun Bahcheli. Postcolonial Studies, Vol. 9, No 3. 2006 'Remarkable'. -Christopher Connery and Vanita Seth. Ethnic and racial studies vol.29 No. 3 May 2006 Book Reviews 'The book is a poignant account of the ways in which collective identities surface in official and unofficial historical registers.' - Rodanthi Tzanelli. Journal of Peace Research Vol 42. 2005. 'A captivating book'. - Malte Pehl. Global Dialogue: Vol 7. 2005. ' The compelling tale of one man's voyage of discovery to 'the other side' is the superscript on the cover of this book, announcing at once its ambivalent location in the genres of both novel-writing and academic monograph, its highly reflexive approach, and its author's charming self-mocking humour.' -Olga Demetriou.

About the Author

Yiannis Papadakis is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Cyprus.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: I. B. Tauris (May 19, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 185043428X
• ISBN-13: 978-1850434283
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #749,385 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #16 in Books > History > Europe > Cyprus
  • #24 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Bible & Other Sacred Texts > Book of the Dead (Egyptian)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The most engaging book I've read on the Cyprus situation., February 26, 2006

By 

Mills Chapman (Villanova, PA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Echoes from the Dead Zone: Across the Cyprus Divide (Hardcover)

I've read quite deeply on the Cyprus affair, and this book really drew me in. Though it does go into some of the history and politics of the situation, it is not a dry account written in an academic tone. The author, a Greek Cypriot, forces himself to listen to the perspectives of Turkish Cypriots and Mainland Turks, and he finds himself in a dead zone of identities as he is slowly distrusted by his own Greek Cypriot community, at least by those who identify more with their "Greekness" than their "Cypriotness." There are lots of first-hand accounts of conversations with nationalists from both sides, and people in both communities who see themselves first and foremost as Cypriot.

The author tries really hard to be objective, and given the scope of the Cyprus problem, does a good job. I read this while also looking over Hannay's book on Cyprus, "The Search for a Solution," and I found the book by Papadakis to be much more exciting. He is now at the University of Cyprus.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars +The deepest book I ever read about Turkish-Greek relations, April 24, 2007

By 

Aristotelis Gavriliadis (Belgium) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Echoes from the Dead Zone: Across the Cyprus Divide (Hardcover)

Just genious. Combines personnal style with scientific authority. Deconstructs all nationalistic, religious mythologies and shows that beyond all identities (muslim, christian,greek,turkish) are real human beings, with real lives and real sufferings.

One of the most important contributions to the construction of peace in Cyprus and between Turkey and Greece.