"Alexandria still": Returning to the Cavafian Alexandria

“Alexandria still: Returning to the Cavafian Alexandria" sets out both to explore Alexandria’s unique place in the history and literary history of Europe and the Middle East, and to ask questions about its construction as a paradigm and a capital of cosmopolitanism. The discussion will center on how Alexandria’s image —as it may be construed by readers of Cavafy, Forster and Durrell— is imbued with and profoundly influenced by Eurocentric ideas about and perceptions of the Middle East: the real Alexandria is a multi-dimensional, intercultural mosaic of a city.

At the event, Hala Halim, author of “Alexandrian Cosmopolitanism: An Archive" will discuss Alexandria as a paradigm of cosmopolitanism with Alexander Kazamias, Senior Lecturer in Political Science at the University of Coventry in the UK. The discussion will be chaired by Dimitris Papanikolaou, Associate Professor in Modern Greek Studies and Fellow of St. Cross College, Oxford.