Orçun Selçuk

Leonidas Karakatsanis’ book looks at the reconciliation efforts between Turkey and Greece which, according to the author, resemble a pendulum that repeatedly swings between two extremes of enmity and friendship. The book is an expanded and updated version of a Ph.D. dissertation written at the University of Essex’s Ideology and Discourse Analysis Program. It relies heavily on scholars like Derrida, Schmitt, Laclau, and Mouffe. The book focuses on diverse initiatives intended to promote the Turkish-Greek friendship in the post-1974 era. The author uses the term “floating signifier” to describe the existence of a diverse set of groups with the broader aim of friendship. It is the friendship discourse, which is analyzed by examining meanings attached to the language, signs, images, representational practices, and bodily encounters.