ABSTRACT
The nineteenth and twentieth centuries constitute a fascinating in Alexandria's long history. The chapter takes issue with both the 'literary Alexandria' and the 'historical Alexandria' produced of late. The explanatory power of the discourse of cosmopolitanism is undermined by its simultaneous adoption of two incompatible assumptions: first, that Alexandria was an open, tolerant city where different ethnic groups were allowed to flourish and to coexist peacefully; and, secondly, that these ethnic groups were separate from each other, with little or no interaction between them. In spite of repeated warnings, the Arabs' rabid nationalism, on the ascendant from the early 1920s, went unheeded by the multicultural, polyglot society of Alexandria, who like Cavafy's ancient mythical citizens sat helpless, 'waiting for the barbarians'. The filth and squalor that Keeley sees in the modern city is a very poignant one, of the 'sorry anachronism' that characterizes post-cosmopolitan Alexandria.
