Decolonising the Cypriot Woman Moving Beyond the Rhetoric of the Cyprus Problem
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Abstract
The long-term consequence of the Cyprus conflict referred to by the international community as the ‘Cyprus problem’ rests on the bodies of Cypriot women. Cypriot women’s diverse experiences and roles in resistance of war and mobilisation of peace impacts post-conflict conditions. The issues relevant to Cypriot women in post-conflict who have experienced trauma and violence due to war, requires a practice and theory that goes beyond Western universal applicability. This study challenges capitalist heteronormative patriarchy and European models of civil society building that have kept Cypriot women on the margins. An investigation of Cypriot women’s voices cross war zones in the documentary film entitled Women of Cyprus (Katrivanou and Azzouz, 2009) bring to light the impact of ethno-nationalism and ethnic divisions and the complexities of women’s positionality in conflict. A transnational feminist perspective is used to advance theories of gender and serves as a critique for reconciliation in Cyprus.
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decolonization, Cypriot women, conflict, transnational feminism, feminist epistemiology, oral history, identity, nationalism, militarism, heteronormative patriarchy
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