Decades after the division of Cyprus, the impact of the conflict continues to be felt among young people. A study conducted by researchers from the Research Centre for Human Development (CEDH) at the Faculty of Education and Psychology of the Universidade Católica Portuguesa (FEP-UCP) concluded that the memory of the conflict is transmitted across generations through the family, school, and other social contexts, influencing how young people understand the past and view the community on the other side of the divide.
The study, titled "The Intergenerational Transmission of Collective Memory in Post-Conflict Cyprus: A Comparative Qualitative Study of Greek and Turkish Cypriot Youth", was published in the scientific journal “Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology” and analysed the experiences of Greek and Turkish Cypriot youth aged between 19 and 30. The research sought to understand how narratives about events occurring before these young people were born continue to influence identities, perceptions, and intergroup relations.
For the first author of the article, Ioanna Xenophontos, who is also an alumna of the International PhD in Applied Psychology at FEP-UCP, the motivation for the study had a personal dimension. “As a young Greek Cypriot myself, I was interested in understanding how the history of the Cyprus conflict continues to shape young people who did not directly experience it,” she says.
The investigation builds on the concept of collective memory, understood as the set of narratives through which a community interprets its past. These narratives play an important role in constructing social identity and can influence how new generations understand historical conflicts, even when they have had no direct contact with them.
Based on interviews conducted with 20 young people from the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities, the researchers identified three main routes of intergenerational memory transmission: the family, school, and the wider societal context.
Family: between stories told and inherited silences
At the family level, the results show that grandparents tend to play the primary role in transmitting memories of the conflict, sharing personal experiences of displacement, loss, or violence. In contrast, many parents reveal greater difficulty in addressing these events.
More than what is told, the study highlights what remains unsaid. According to Ioanna Xenophontos, family silence can have a significant impact, as it leads young people to seek answers in other spaces. “Even when families did not openly discuss the conflict, the absence of communication could leave younger generations with unanswered questions and gaps that were later filled through other sources,” she notes.
The researchers conclude that fragmented communication within families contributes to a partial understanding of the past and can lead young people to reconstruct historical events through their own interpretations, public narratives, or information obtained outside the familial context.
Schools transmit different versions of the same story
One of the study’s most relevant findings relates to the role of schools in constructing collective memory. Participants from both communities reported that the history of Cyprus is frequently taught from a one-sided perspective, centred on the experience and narratives of their respective group.
According to the testimonies collected, school syllabuses tend to privilege episodes that reinforce feelings of national belonging and collective victimhood, devoting little attention to the perspective of the other community. Consequently, many participants considered that they had received an incomplete view of the events that marked the island's recent history.
Several young people mentioned that they only realised this bias later, often after international experiences, direct contact with members of the other community, or access to alternative sources of information.
The study also identifies what the authors call a "knowledge gap". Despite spending years studying history, many participants felt they lacked fundamental elements to understand the origins of the conflict and the way relations between Greek and Turkish Cypriots evolved over time.
Another relevant aspect is the role of teachers. Interviewees highlighted that the way content is taught can be as influential as the curricula themselves. Some participants reported that certain teachers avoided addressing sensitive topics out of fear of reactions from parents or school management. Others described situations where teachers added personal and nationalistic interpretations to the material taught.
For the researchers, these results show that schools do not function merely as spaces for transmitting historical knowledge, but also as places where specific narratives gain legitimacy and can contribute to consolidating social divisions. On the other hand, they argue that history education can play an important role in promoting critical thinking, reflection on the past, and intergroup dialogue.
Transmission of collective memory extends beyond family and school
The study further concluded that the transmission of conflict memory is not limited to family and school. Among male Greek Cypriot participants, frequent references emerged to military service and certain sporting contexts, particularly related to football, as spaces where nationalistic narratives and attitudes can be reproduced and normalised.
According to the authors, these contexts act as extensions of the socialisation processes already initiated at home and in school, contributing to reinforcing symbolic boundaries between communities.
Young people also reconstruct the narrative
Despite the persistence of these influences, the research reveals that young people do not adopt a passive role towards inherited narratives. “Young people are not simply passive recipients: they can also question, reinterpret or reject the narratives they inherit,” mentions the first author of the study.
For Ioanna Xenophontos, understanding the mechanisms through which collective memory is transmitted is essential for promoting reconciliation processes and encouraging a more critical reflection on the past.
“I would like readers to recognise that the past can remain present through what families communicate, what they leave unsaid, what schools teach, and what becomes normalised in society. Understanding these processes can also help us think about how they might be transformed,” she adds.
Although focused on the Cypriot reality, the study suggests that similar mechanisms may be present in other post-conflict societies marked by war, political divisions, or cultural traumas, reinforcing the importance of creating spaces that promote a more plural and inclusive understanding of history.
The research was carried out by Ioanna Xenophontos and Mariana Reis Barbosa (researcher at the Research Centre for Human Development and lecturer at the Faculty of Education and Psychology of the Universidade Católica Portuguesa), in collaboration with researchers from Nottingham Trent University, Blanquerna-Universitat Ramon Llull, and Bahçeşehir Ankara University.
