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The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School College of Education LEARNING ETHNO-NATIONAL IDENTITY IN AREAS OF CONFLICT: A COMPARATIVE NARRATIVE ANALYSIS OF GREEK-CYPRIOT AND TURKISH-CYPRIOT YOUNG ADULTS A Dissertation in Lifelong Learning and Adult Education & Comparative and International Education by Christos Anagiotos 2016 Christos Anagiotos Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 2016 The dissertation of Christos Anagiotos was reviewed and approved* by the following: Fred M. Schied Associate Professor Dissertation Advisor Co-Chair of Committee Ladislaus M. Semali Professor of Education Co-Chair of Committee Davin J. Carr-Chellman Assistant Professor David M. Post Professor of Education Susan M. Land Associate Professor Director of Graduate Studies for the Department of Learning and Performance Systems *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School iii ABSTRACT Cyprus is a divided country as a result of nationalist conflict. Greek-Cypriots and Turkish-Cypriots have lived apart and totally segregated from 1974 until 2003. This multiple comparative case study employs narrative analysis to investigate ethno-national identity learning among four young adults, two from the Greek-Cypriot community and two from the Turkish-Cypriot community that were born and raised on the divided island of Cyprus during the segregation period. Using the dialogic/performance approach to narrative inquiry I examined these young adults’ experiences as expressed in their narratives to investigate how they understand and learn their ethno-national identity (ethnic and/or national identity). I compared the cases from each community using comparative education methods and identified similarities and differences between the ethno-national identity learning processes of participants from the two communities and the experiences that influenced those processes. This study introduced the term “identity learning” to examine ethno-national identity as a lifelong learning process of becoming, using Dewey’s concepts of experience and learning, and theories from the social constructionist approach to identity. The participants in the study have been learning their ethno-national identity throughout their lives. Learning to be Cypriot, Greek-Cypriot or Turkish-Cypriot was a unique process for each one of them. The study shows that ethno- national identity learning is a lifelong learning process influenced and interconnected with the physical, political, social and cultural environment, individuals, groups and narratives in the environment; and that ethno-national self-identifications among young adults in Cyprus are not always fixed, rather they can be dynamic and they often change, influenced by interconnected experiences and through reflection on those experiences. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables ............................................................................................................... vii Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................... viii Chapter 1 Introduction ................................................................................................. 1 Overview of the Study .......................................................................................... 1 A Cup of Identity .................................................................................................. 4 Research Problem & Rationale for the Study ....................................................... 7 Research Purpose .................................................................................................. 9 Research Questions ............................................................................................... 9 What to Compare and Why? ................................................................................. 10 Chapter 2 Literature Review and Theoretical Framework .......................................... 15 Ethno-national Identity in the Cyprus Context ..................................................... 15 Brief History and the Genesis of Ethno-national Identity in Cyprus ............ 16 Overwhelming History and Opposed Identities ............................................ 25 Civic-territorial versus Ethno-cultural Identity in Cyprus ............................. 27 Theoretical Perspectives on Identity ..................................................................... 32 Individual and Collective Identity in Psychology ......................................... 32 Culture and Identity ....................................................................................... 34 Construction of Ethnic and National Identity ................................................ 35 Dewey’s Theory .................................................................................................... 45 Dewey’s Concept of Experience ................................................................... 45 Learning for Dewey ....................................................................................... 49 Identity Learning ........................................................................................... 51 Learning to be Ethno-National ............................................................................. 55 Ethno-national identity, context and environment ........................................ 60 Theoretical Foundations of Narrative Analysis .................................................... 64 Chapter 3 Research Design .......................................................................................... 69 Recruitment of Participants .................................................................................. 70 Participants ........................................................................................................... 72 Data Collection ..................................................................................................... 74 Interviews ...................................................................................................... 74 Documents ..................................................................................................... 78 Data Analysis ........................................................................................................ 79 Multiple Case Study ...................................................................................... 79 Stages of Analysis ................................................................................................. 80 First Stage of Analysis ................................................................................... 80 Second Stage of Analysis .............................................................................. 80 Third Stage of Analysis ................................................................................. 85 v Forth Stage of Analysis ................................................................................. 86 Fifth Stage of Analysis .................................................................................. 88 Researcher’s Identity ............................................................................................ 89 Data Quality .......................................................................................................... 91 Limitations of the Study ....................................................................................... 94 The Cyprus Context and Rationale for a Comparative Study .............................. 96 Equivalence ................................................................................................... 99 Comparability ................................................................................................ 107 Chapter 4 Data Analysis and Discussion ..................................................................... 112 Presentation of Findings ....................................................................................... 112 Turkish-Cypriot Participants ................................................................................ 116 Fatma’s Narratives and Experiences .................................................................... 116 Self-Identification .......................................................................................... 117 Language ....................................................................................................... 120 Changes in Ethno-national Identity ............................................................... 124 Family ............................................................................................................ 132 Politics ........................................................................................................... 137 Flags and Representation in the Republic of Cyprus .................................... 142 Interaction with Greek-Cypriots .................................................................... 144 Turkish Immigrants ....................................................................................... 151 Crossing to the South ..................................................................................... 153 Mass Media ................................................................................................... 156 Nationalist Friends ......................................................................................... 157 Mustafa’s Narratives and Experiences ................................................................