Contested Symbols as Social Representations: The Case of Cyprus

Abstract

Symbols are, first of all, a means of representation as they stand in the place of something else. From the perspective of genetic social psychology representations have a symbolic function since they use symbols to signify, to make sense of and to establish the real. Representations are simultaneously social as they are formed and enacted in social interaction between people in their everyday life in a way that they point to particular social relations in a single community and importantly, with members from other communities. This chapter examines symbols as social representations and specifically focuses on the ways that symbolic meanings of cultural artefacts relating to intergroup conflict vary as a function of the quality of social relations between conflicting groups in the context of the unresolved Cyprus issue. The important role that intergroup contact plays in changing the meaning of symbols within and across the dividing line is highlighted, as well as related forms of communication.