Tormented by History: Nationalism in Greece and Turkey (Columbia/Hurst) Book

Tormented by History traces the emergence and development of the Greek and Turkish nationalist projects over the past two hundred years. Grounded in an extensive critical review of the historiography and literature on Greek and Turkish nationalisms, this volume challenges the common belief that the rise of a "Greek" and a "Turkish" nation was inevitable. Umut Özkirimli, a Turk, and Spyros A. Sofos, a Greek, acknowledge the complexity of the relationship between the two nationalisms and examine issues concerning the politics of language, religion, memory, history, territory, and landscape. They address the complex processes of homogenization, marginalization, and minoritization of populations and cultures as well as institutional support of Greek and Turkish nationalism. They also discuss the place of "constitutive violence," both physical and symbolic, in the nationalist imagination, and the ensuing trauma and sense of loss that came out of the consolidation of Greek and Turkish identities.Read More