The flame and the sword: Cypriot literature of liberation considered from post-colonial, psychological and creative perspectives

Abstract

My novel A Watermelon, A Fish and a Bible was published in April 2010 by Quercus in the UK, who have rights to the commonwealth countries. It has also been translated into three other languages and has been very well received in Greece and Cyprus. I believe that my novel and the critical piece make an original contribution to the field.

After conducting much research I discovered that the literature concerning Cypriot politics is either nationalistic or deals directly with the divide of the land or its inhabitants. My novel, however, is set during the first eight days of the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus and deals not only with the immediate effect of this invasion on the small town of Kyrenia but also with the consequences of Cypriot nationalism in the lives of the people. In many ways the novel is about the emergence of globalisation as described by Edward Said in Culture and Imperialism. It shows the “remorselessly selfish and narrow interests”1 that lead to both “mass destructiveness,”2 in the form of the invasion in this case, and personal destructiveness, in the form of the failed relationships of the characters in my novel.

The first part of my research explores the reactions of the Orthodox Cypriot during British administration in the 1950s and considers reasons for these reactions, examining whether the notion of post-colonialism can be applied to Cyprus. In the second part, I take a psychological approach and consider archetypal patterns in the structure of the 1950s revolt against British administration. Finally, I will explore some post-invasion texts and their relevance to the changing identity politics of the Orthodox Cypriot community and then look at how this exploration influenced my novel.

My novel A Watermelon, a Fish and a Bible can be found on Amazon.co.uk