The Other Shore: Trans-Aegean Rapprochement in Literature, Music and Film

The proposed book intends to offer an account of the rapprochement between Turkey and Greece in the last two decades by focusing on the interactions between the two countries in literature and popular culture. It examines a variety of literary and artistic forms, as the efforts to achieve more peaceful relations have found expression in almost all areas of cultural production. In this respect, the book clearly distinguishes itself from books which examine Greek-Turkish relationships from the point of view of international politics and history only.

The common thread which links the different forms of literature and popular culture in this book is not only the fact that they often carry the feeling of peace activism, intervening in and contributing to the so called 'recent thaw in relationships', but also the consequences of the mutual (un )intelligibility of the two languages in question. Translations between Greek and Turkish in literature, film and music emerge in this book as a key issue which has not yet been fully discussed.

The book argues that the (none) existence of translation in these cultural productions, the way translations are carried out, and the way the texts are often supported by extra textual materials (such as footnotes, prefaces, liner notes, etc.), point towards certain tensions within these endeavours, which seem to have conflicting motivations. While some of these endeavours are mainly market driven or politically oriented, often in accordance with
Turkey's long awaited E.U. accession, others are good will gestures or are inspired by anti-globalisation movements.
The (non) translation, packaging and representation of cultural productions in question also act as barometers displaying the varying attitudes towards cultural, national, ethnic, geographical and historical identities, such as Greek, Rum, Ottoman, Anatolian, and Turkish.