Paper long abstract:

In the summer of 1996, Cyprus experienced a political crisis: violence broke out in the buffer zone which separates the island between north and south. A demonstration led by Greek Cypriots was met with a counter-demonstration by Turkish Cypriots and two Greek Cypriots were killed as a result of the violence which erupted. In parallel to these events the government of the Republic of Cyprus announced its intention to buy land-to-air missiles from Russia to boost its military defense. Fieldwork carried out with Greek Cypriot children at the time provided the ethnographer with a unique opportunity to explore children's reactions to this crisis. This paper will explore how two groups of children came to construct their understandings of the crisis and its outcome through their imaginative use of political reality, religious prophesy, and local tradition.