An unforgettable ethnography of a nation-state whose special status sharpens our eyes to the make-believe quality of every state. Yael Navaro-Yashin's evocative writing brings to life the scarred landscapes of Northern Cyprus and the affective worlds of Turkish-Cypriots who inhabit them-uncomfortable with 'looted' and abandoned objects, melancholic about the ruins of war and the ghostly Greek presence, and cynical about the banal apparatus of the state, whether its documents, laws, or occupations. Intimate conversations with philosophers and theorists weave in and out of profound ruminations on the details of people's interactions with their pregnant material worlds in this unique study that reveals anthropology's incisive beauty.-Lila Abu-Lughod, Columbia University
Can the experience of citizenship in an illegitimate state reveal something about state making more generally? In her insightful account of Northern Cyprus as 'make-believe' space, Yael Navaro-Yashin traces the diverse practices-imaginative, material, and affective-that craft this de facto polity, both as fantasy and as tangible truth. In the process, she offers profound insight into what it is that makes nation-states believable everywhere.-Jean Comaroff, University of Chicago
Navaro-Yashin's book is a serious and intriguing exploration... Navaro-Yashin's work strongly engages this conflict [in Cypriot identity] and, in so doing, enlivens and broadens the social science discourse on Cyprus. -- Bayard E. Lyons * Social Analysis *
This book is a must-read for scholars interested in the Mediterranean region as well as those with a more general interest in the intermingling of politics,materiality and affect. -- Mikkel Bille * Ethnos *
The Make-Believe Space is a genuinely important and lucidly written book. The theoretical originality that oozes from every single chapter renders it a very inspiring political ethnography. -- Erden Evren * American Ethnologist *
The Make-Believe Space is a very rich account of a violently partitioned spectral space, a stunted temporality, a haunted and cynical people, and a state with no stability, legitimacy, or recognition. It is well written and full of interesting stories. It is innovative in its focus on materiality and affect. I would highly recommend it to those interested in affect theory, material objects, and state formation in post-war contexts. -- Banu Goekariksel * The Australian Journal of Anthropology *
The Make-Believe Space will appeal to readers in search of an analysis of statecraft that troubles the grounding of its legitimacy and authority in the law. As an ethnographic encounter with critical theory, the book also offers rich material to scholars studying the politics of affect and the socio-materialities of natural and built environments. -- Kabir Tambar * PoLAR *
