Wedded to the Land?

“Wedded to the Land? can be read with benefit at several levels. It is a fresh account of three pivotal moments of crisis: Greek-Turkish relations of the early 1920s, the Cyprus coup and Turkish invasion of 1974, and the displacement of the Palestinians after 1982. It offers insights based on literary and cultural analysis. . . . [Layoun’s] book is certainly evidence that looking at questions from a perspective of literature, gender, and culture can be productive and offer fresh and insightful dimensions.” - Mediterranean Quarterly

“This is a fine book that all scholars of critical discernment and ethical conscience need to read.” - Djelal Kadir , Comparative Literature Studies

"Wedded to the Land? is a tightly organized, elegantly written, and analytically nuanced study of the relationship between nationalism, culture, and gender. . . . Layoun’s lucid prose and attention to historical detail (along with a rich, interdisciplinary bibliography) make Wedded to the Land? easily accessible to and valuable for scholars of political science, anthropology, and history. Furthermore, the cohesion and unity that derive from Layoun’s combination of two chapters of theory and three chapters of case studies, make the book a remarkable resource for both research and teaching purposes. . . . [F]inely written."

- Elizabeth H. Prodromou , Middle East Journal

"[A] wonderful analysis of three case studies of gendered cultural responses to crises of nationalism. . . ." - Anastasia Karakasidou , American Historical Review

"[P]rofound . . . . [A] fresh approach. . . . Layoun’s elaborated readings of the texts she has chosen are admirably attuned to the whispered implications of narrative detail in closely historicized moments of cultural production."

- Marilyn Booth , H-Net Reviews

"Layoun’s presentation of the political background to the crisis is nuanced and impressively rich. . . ." - Melani McAlister , American Literary History

"Mary Layoun raises the stakes of the links between gender and nationalism. . . . That Wedded to the Land? is able to traverse accepted borders of nations and genders, construct contested narratives of nationalisms and genders, and raise the possibilities of alternatives to nations and nationalisms is undoubtedly what makes this a noteworthy contribution." - Jyoti Puri, Signs

"Mary Layoun’s Wedded to the Land? is an interesting addition to the literature on gender and citizenship. . . . A valuable contribution."
  - Patricia K. Wood , Gender, Place & Culture

"The cultures of the nation and of nationalism are the timely topics of Mary Layoun's compelling book. . . . This is a fine book that all scholars of critical discernment and ethical conscience need to read." - Djelal Kadir , Comparative Literature Studies

“An insightful analysis of a truly impressive array of literary, cinematic, archival, and ethnographic materials.” - Ted Swedenburg, coeditor of Displacement, Diaspora, and Geographies of Identity

“This rigorous and admirable study contributes to a new understanding of the discussion of nationalism vis a vis cultural production and politics. It is a model for the kind of work we need to see more of—engaged, erudite, considered, and full of historic detail and nuanced analysis.” - Caren Kaplan, author of Questions of Travel: Postmodern Discourses of Displacement