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magical and fiction.
Anumber of stories in this anthology veer away
from the classical type of story. Some employ
the lessons learnt from the poetic of European
modernism. Contemporary elements can also
be found in the writings of the older authors,
such as Nikos Nikolaides, Kostas Montis and
Sacit Tekin, though Ivi Meleagrou’s work
is the most modern. Other authors to take a
more contemporary approach to their work
include Özden Selenge, Christos Hadjipapas,
Nilgün Güney, Andreas Maloris, Chrystalla
Koulermou, Titsa Diamantopoulou, Myrto
Azina Chronides, Antonis Georgiou, Gürgenç
Korkmazel, Stefanos Stavridis, Mehmet Arap,
Gürkan Uluçhan and Emre Ileri.
Despite its serious nature, the anthology also
includes some comical elements. The satirical
tongue of Nikos Nikolaides; the bittersweet
and tart humour, almost sarcasm, employed
by the likes of Kostas Montis, Semit Sait
Umar, Numan Ali Levent, Ali Nesim, Antis
Hadjiadamos and Özben Aksoy; and the
satirical daggers in regards to happenings in
Cyprus – most evident in work by Yiannis
Katsouris, Christos Hadjipapas and Gürgenç
Korkmazel – are all present.
The 54 narratives in
Stories by Greek Cypriots
and Turkish Cypriots
imprint the passions
of Cyprus, the personal and collective
considerations of the authors, but also universal
and international issues. The authors in the
majority of cases look ahead of their times
and project their sensitivities and concerns
over the hardships suffered by the human race
throughout time. Readers can learn a lot from
these stories – primarily the virtue of accepting
the
Other
; those compatriots who speak a
foreign language or who are of a different
religion, with whom they share common
experiences and hardships.
The main aim of this publication is to help one
community understand the other, and realise
that it is time for the division to end on this
small and tormented island.
Three committees worked on preparing this
anthology: an Advisory Committee, which
was in charge of general supervision, and
two Anthology Committees, one from each
community. The translation from Turkish to
Greek was done by well-known translator
Frango Karaoglan, and the translation from
Greek to Turkish was carried out by Lale Alatli
and Ibrahim Aziz.
Kyriacos Kenevezos, former Minister of
Education and Culture
“For the first time ever, the State has taken on
the task of implementing the goal of further
reinforcing mutual understanding between the
two communities who endure feelings and
experiences in a common homeland, through
written word. These experiences are filtered,
imprinted and mapped in the pages of this
anthology, through the personal perspective of
each writer.
The influences of the rationalistic reasoning
of the western man and the mysticism of the
east interlock and interlace to create a cultural
mosaic, through which the World of our Cyprus
emerges.
Through the pages of this publication, which
focuses mainly on the era from 1960 until the
present day, the political-societal structures,
cultural elements of locality but also elements
of the diachronic co-existence of the two
communities are showcased, and the identity is
circumscribed through the heterogeneity.
Besides the messages sent through the stories
in the anthology, the publication also expresses
existential concerns and echoes man’s anxious
queries surrounding the mystery of life and
creation.
I believe this publication will serve as a
reference point to the Cypriot secretariat.
The process to complete it was an arduous
and difficult task, which required time, a
study of the historical-societal frameworks,
transposition and transmission of the messages,
words and expressions, from one language to
the other, from one cultural code to another.
This is why I warmly congratulate all those who
worked hard to make this publication a reality.”
