Who 'We' are and How We Perceive 'Others': Influence of History Textbooks During the Construction Process of 'Self' and the ‘Other’ in Cyprus

The construction of knowledge cannot be examined without the influences of power relations and its ideological instrument; discourse. However, interpretation of given information despite of discourses by the recipients also play an important role at knowledge/identity construction. During the study the indictment of the idea that “missing information about the ‘Other’ and the words for identifying the ‘Other’ may cause biased national discourses” is assumed. The study is focused on Cyprus Island, which is divided into two parts and shelters two communities. These communities share certain periods of the past but expressed by different discourses in the history textbooks. The purpose is to figure out whether the history textbooks were influential on the construction of the \'self\' and the \'Other\'. To illustrate whether citizens of both republics are active recipients or passive one; a questionnaire has been delivered to 100 Turkish and 100 Greek Cypriots who live in the island.