From bredwine1968 at earthlink.net Mon Aug 2 10:57:45 2010 From: bredwine1968 at earthlink.net (Bruce Redwine) Date: Mon, 2 Aug 2010 10:57:45 -0700 Subject: [ilds] beloved Kabbalah! In-Reply-To: <5C2EDFF97113494FB64C00C314CF96A6@MumandDad> References: <5C2EDFF97113494FB64C00C314CF96A6@MumandDad> Message-ID: <0B67EEAD-6BDA-4083-A589-0AD17B59456B@earthlink.net> Re the "Cabal" and Carlo Suares, the relevant sections occur on pp. 307-10 of Michael Haag's Alexandria: City of Memory (2004). I'm not sure how Durrell (influenced by Suares) makes the jump from the Kabbalah to his personal philosophy or "heraldic principle," as expressed in the "airgraph" to Diana Gould, about "self-indulgence." Namely: "Where you wish to conquer indulge and refine, never prohibit" (p. 308). This reminds me of Blake's Proverbs of Hell and his philosophy of excess: "The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom," "Prisons are built with stone of law, brothels with bricks of religion," "The cistern contains; the fountain overflows," etc. Is there a connection outside of Durrell's rampant imagination? Bruce On Aug 1, 2010, at 11:49 PM, Denise Tart & David Green wrote: > Dear Illyas, > > yes, OK, perhaps beloved is going too far, but let us recall Durrell's deep interest in Eastern Philosophy and also other 'ways of living' Philosophies. > > MHaag provides good evidence for LD's high affinity for Kabbalism (cabbalism....) > > The following is from his book Alexandria: City of Memory which I hope he wont mind being quoted on this forum > > "Carlo Suares became one of the models for Balthazar in The Quartet. > > Durrell's notion of a cabalistic group of Mediterranean adepts came > from Carlo Suares whose interests during the 1930s had expanded beyond > Krishnamurti and into the world of Jewish mysticism which just then > was undergoing a revival. In particular Suares had been delving into > the Sepher Yetsirah, a third-century account of the means by which God > created the universe. The Psalmist wrote, 'By the word of the Lord > were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his > mouth', and so the Sepher Yetsirah claims that the divine utterance > included all the letters of the Hebrew alphabet which in their various > combinations make up the holy language, the language of creation. To > each letter is assigned a number, which taken together were the > instruments by which God created the cosmos in all its infinite > variety. For the cabalist, this system of linguistical and numerical > manipulation would reveal to him the real meaning, the true > revelation, contained in cypher form within the Book of Genesis and > other holy texts, but it was also seen as a means of revealing the > structure of universal energy. To Suares the release of this energy > involved a transcending exaltation of the seven deadly sins, whose > real significance, he believed, could be traced back to Gnostic > origins; and to achieve full realisation of oneself, said Suares, it > was necessary to become aware of the energies of these 'sins' and > their true values so as to be able to integrate them into oneself. ... > > > Suares and his mystical Hebrew alphabet gave Durrell the idea in > Justine for Balthazar's cabalistic group with its exchanges of > Hermetic philosophy written in Greek in boustrophedon form. But though > there are rumours that Suares was working for French intelligence, and > while at the heart of the medieval cabala was the belief that the > spiritual dislocation of the Jews would be healed when they returned > to Zion, there is otherwise no indication that his get-togethers at > Saba Pasha were a screen for Zionist activities. That was left to > Durrell's imagination when after completing Justine he decided to > extend his Book of the Dead into a political thriller. > > And.... > > And in April 1945, after his adventures with Suares and his group, > Durrell wrote this letter to the dancer Diana Gould, the future wife > of Yehudi Menuhin: > > Myself I have been drafting notes for the book of the dead which is to > be about (a) incest (b) Alexandria (c) The Hermetics. I have been > examining the doctrine of the modern cabbalists and have evolved from > it a philosophy of self-indulgence very Alexandrian in its refinement. > My Grand Inquisitor says: 'What I have to offer the world is not a > morality but an aesthetic. Where all religions tend to prohibit, > exclude or sort out human behaviour, my aesthetic includes: Our object > is the same: to remove envy, greed and other vices from the human > nature. I say indulge them but refine yourself by them and thus refine > them too. Take experience for a laboratory. No sin can remain sin if > it is informed by this principle which I call the heraldic principle. > Where you wish to conquer indulge and refine, never prohibit. > Prohibition by the law of opposite increases demand'." > > It is the norm on this list to talk about what he wrote rather than what he read, or thought or indeed to discuss who he was. I am personally very interested in Durrell's emerging self and the transformative processes of his life. His literature maybe save territory for scholarship but the man offers us a more challenging world, perhaps.. > > David > > > > Denise Tart > designing ceremonies > Civil Celebrant - A8807 > 16 William Street > Marrickville NSW 2204 > +61 2 9564 6165 > 0412 707 625 > dtart at bigpond.net.au > www.denisetart.com.au -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.uvic.ca/pipermail/ilds/attachments/20100802/7beb9c92/attachment.html From Charles-Sligh at utc.edu Mon Aug 2 12:00:05 2010 From: Charles-Sligh at utc.edu (Charles Sligh) Date: Mon, 02 Aug 2010 15:00:05 -0400 Subject: [ilds] antinomian vs. ascetic gnostics In-Reply-To: <0B67EEAD-6BDA-4083-A589-0AD17B59456B@earthlink.net> References: <5C2EDFF97113494FB64C00C314CF96A6@MumandDad> <0B67EEAD-6BDA-4083-A589-0AD17B59456B@earthlink.net> Message-ID: <4C5715B5.1040001@utc.edu> Bruce Redwine wrote: > "Where you wish to conquer indulge and refine, never prohibit" (p. > 308). This reminds me of Blake's /Proverbs of Hell /and his philosophy > of excess: "The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom," > "Prisons are built with stone of law, brothels with bricks of > religion," "The cistern contains; the fountain overflows," etc. Is > there a connection outside of Durrell's rampant imagination? > > You are perhaps not alone in wondering, Bruce. Most lay people tend to think of gnosticism in terms of asceticism--i.e., the material world is regrettable, so those in quest for gnosis should separate from it. I think that you will know the apocryphal lines from "Tl?n, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius," perhaps the classic statement in literature: > The following day, Bioy called me from Buenos Aries. He told > me he had before him the article on Uqbar, in volume XLVI of > the encyclopedia. The heresiarch's name was not forthcoming, > but there was a note on his doctrine, formulated in words > almost identical to those he had repeated, though perhaps > literally inferior. He had recalled: /Copulation and mirrors > are abominable/. The text of the encyclopedia said: /For one > of those gnostics, the visible universe was an illusion or > (more precisely) a sophism. Mirrors and fatherhood are > abominable because they multiply and disseminate that universe/. Durrell, being Durrell (& Blakean???), goes "against that grain" of gnostic puritanism (cf. also Huysmans?), having his characters speak in epigraphs and complete paragraphs about the antinomian side of gnosticism. Look first to Forster on this ("Section III: The Spiritual City: Christianity: Gnosticism"), where you will find "Consequently if we wish to be good we must be bad" (76). Also, elsewhere: > a) As to cultus, Gnosticism produced two opposite movements > which are comparable with puritanism and ritualism > respectively. The abhorrence of matter led some consistently > to the utmost simplicity of worship. Some rejected all > sacraments and other outward means of grace, and the > Prodicians rejected even prayer (Epiphan. Hoer. xxvi.;. Clem. > Alex. Strom, i. 15 [304], yii. 7 [722]). On the other hand, > many groups, especially the Marcosians, went to the opposite > extreme with a symbolic and mystic pomp in worship. This, > while inconsistent with the Gnostic views of matter, is in > line with the ideas of magico-mystical salvation indicated > above. Sacraments were numerous, rites many and varied. It > seems clear that they led the way in introducing features > which became characteristic of the Catholic Church. They were > distinguished as hymn-writers (Bardesanes, Ophites, > Valentinians). The Basilideans seem to have been the first to > celebrate the festival of Epiphany. The Simonians and > Carpocratians first used images of Christ and others (see > Church Histories of Schaff, Kurtz, etc.). > > (b) The ethic also took two directions?one towards an > unbridled antinomianism, the other towards a gloomy > asceticism. Antinonrian Gnostics (e.g. Nicolaitans, Ophites) > held that sensuality is to be overcome by indulging it to > exhaustion, and they practised the foulest debaucheries. The > Ascetics (e.g. Saturninns, Tatian) abhorred matter, and strove > to avoid all contact with flesh as far as possible. This led > them to forbid marriage and indulgence in certain kinds of > food. This ethic in both oranches is the unfailing outcome of > the primary dualism characteristic of Gnosticism. Wherever > dualistic notions are influential, we find this twin > development of antinomianism and asceticism. In the NT we find > both kinds of error referred to (see below). It is to be > remembered that neither by itself is sufficient to indicate > Gnosticism. There are many sources conceivable, for asceticism > especially. http://books.google.com/books?pg=PA455&lpg=PA455&dq=gnostic+sensuality&sig=UnSD0kP-FScG-SMV1toX1F_77UU&ei=YxBXTIDtHYT48AbaraHkBA&ct=result&id=ztYMAAAAIAAJ&ots=b7-NYsz4cF#v=onepage&q=gnostic%20sensuality&f=false -- ******************************************** Charles L. Sligh Assistant Professor Department of English University of Tennessee at Chattanooga charles-sligh at utc.edu ******************************************** From bredwine1968 at earthlink.net Mon Aug 2 13:09:09 2010 From: bredwine1968 at earthlink.net (Bruce Redwine) Date: Mon, 2 Aug 2010 13:09:09 -0700 Subject: [ilds] antinomian vs. ascetic gnostics In-Reply-To: <4C5715B5.1040001@utc.edu> References: <5C2EDFF97113494FB64C00C314CF96A6@MumandDad> <0B67EEAD-6BDA-4083-A589-0AD17B59456B@earthlink.net> <4C5715B5.1040001@utc.edu> Message-ID: Thanks for the references, Charles. They help to clarify, but it's still hard to imagine how Gnosticism went off in two polar directions. On the individual level, Blake's notions of "excess" are not reflected his personal life. If I'm right, his marriage was lasting, loving, and conventional, beyond the story that Mr. and Mrs. Blake liked to read Paradise Lost in their garden, sitting in the nude. He wasn't a habitu? of brothels. It may be relevant to recall the background of Durrell's letter to Diana Gould. She was a tall beauty of considerable intelligence, and Durrell was completely taken with her ? besotted might be the right word. She was also a woman of numerous affairs, so old LD may have been trying to impress her with his own worldliness. It's hard to know to what degree Durrell believed his own odd statements. The Durrell-Gould correspondence needs to be published. Bruce On Aug 2, 2010, at 12:00 PM, Charles Sligh wrote: > Bruce Redwine wrote: >> "Where you wish to conquer indulge and refine, never prohibit" (p. >> 308). This reminds me of Blake's /Proverbs of Hell /and his philosophy >> of excess: "The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom," >> "Prisons are built with stone of law, brothels with bricks of >> religion," "The cistern contains; the fountain overflows," etc. Is >> there a connection outside of Durrell's rampant imagination? >> >> > You are perhaps not alone in wondering, Bruce. > > Most lay people tend to think of gnosticism in terms of > asceticism--i.e., the material world is regrettable, so those in quest > for gnosis should separate from it. I think that you will know the > apocryphal lines from "Tl?n, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius," perhaps the classic > statement in literature: > >> The following day, Bioy called me from Buenos Aries. He told >> me he had before him the article on Uqbar, in volume XLVI of >> the encyclopedia. The heresiarch's name was not forthcoming, >> but there was a note on his doctrine, formulated in words >> almost identical to those he had repeated, though perhaps >> literally inferior. He had recalled: /Copulation and mirrors >> are abominable/. The text of the encyclopedia said: /For one >> of those gnostics, the visible universe was an illusion or >> (more precisely) a sophism. Mirrors and fatherhood are >> abominable because they multiply and disseminate that universe/. > > Durrell, being Durrell (& Blakean???), goes "against that grain" of > gnostic puritanism (cf. also Huysmans?), having his characters speak in > epigraphs and complete paragraphs about the antinomian side of gnosticism. > > Look first to Forster on this ("Section III: The Spiritual City: > Christianity: Gnosticism"), where you will find "Consequently if we wish > to be good we must be bad" (76). > > Also, elsewhere: > >> a) As to cultus, Gnosticism produced two opposite movements >> which are comparable with puritanism and ritualism >> respectively. The abhorrence of matter led some consistently >> to the utmost simplicity of worship. Some rejected all >> sacraments and other outward means of grace, and the >> Prodicians rejected even prayer (Epiphan. Hoer. xxvi.;. Clem. >> Alex. Strom, i. 15 [304], yii. 7 [722]). On the other hand, >> many groups, especially the Marcosians, went to the opposite >> extreme with a symbolic and mystic pomp in worship. This, >> while inconsistent with the Gnostic views of matter, is in >> line with the ideas of magico-mystical salvation indicated >> above. Sacraments were numerous, rites many and varied. It >> seems clear that they led the way in introducing features >> which became characteristic of the Catholic Church. They were >> distinguished as hymn-writers (Bardesanes, Ophites, >> Valentinians). The Basilideans seem to have been the first to >> celebrate the festival of Epiphany. The Simonians and >> Carpocratians first used images of Christ and others (see >> Church Histories of Schaff, Kurtz, etc.). >> >> (b) The ethic also took two directions?one towards an >> unbridled antinomianism, the other towards a gloomy >> asceticism. Antinonrian Gnostics (e.g. Nicolaitans, Ophites) >> held that sensuality is to be overcome by indulging it to >> exhaustion, and they practised the foulest debaucheries. The >> Ascetics (e.g. Saturninns, Tatian) abhorred matter, and strove >> to avoid all contact with flesh as far as possible. This led >> them to forbid marriage and indulgence in certain kinds of >> food. This ethic in both oranches is the unfailing outcome of >> the primary dualism characteristic of Gnosticism. Wherever >> dualistic notions are influential, we find this twin >> development of antinomianism and asceticism. In the NT we find >> both kinds of error referred to (see below). It is to be >> remembered that neither by itself is sufficient to indicate >> Gnosticism. There are many sources conceivable, for asceticism >> especially. > http://books.google.com/books?pg=PA455&lpg=PA455&dq=gnostic+sensuality&sig=UnSD0kP-FScG-SMV1toX1F_77UU&ei=YxBXTIDtHYT48AbaraHkBA&ct=result&id=ztYMAAAAIAAJ&ots=b7-NYsz4cF#v=onepage&q=gnostic%20sensuality&f=false > > -- > ******************************************** > Charles L. Sligh > Assistant Professor > Department of English > University of Tennessee at Chattanooga > charles-sligh at utc.edu > ******************************************** -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.uvic.ca/pipermail/ilds/attachments/20100802/0813ef04/attachment.html From Fraser.Wilson at eht.nhs.uk Tue Aug 3 02:47:07 2010 From: Fraser.Wilson at eht.nhs.uk (Wilson, Fraser) Date: Tue, 3 Aug 2010 10:47:07 +0100 Subject: [ilds] The boyhood deeds of Larry Durrell Message-ID: <73EE03F36052BC48BD48C86191489F3B0167B34C@eht-mail01p.xeht.nhs.uk> An interesting take on early memory. http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/many-childhood-memories-imagi ned-20100802-112ao.html "autobiographical memory" - relevant to Durrell in India ? -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/ms-tnef Size: 3967 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://lists.uvic.ca/pipermail/ilds/attachments/20100803/615876ab/attachment.bin From Charles-Sligh at utc.edu Tue Aug 3 06:56:00 2010 From: Charles-Sligh at utc.edu (Charles Sligh) Date: Tue, 03 Aug 2010 09:56:00 -0400 Subject: [ilds] The boyhood deeds of Larry Durrell In-Reply-To: <73EE03F36052BC48BD48C86191489F3B0167B34C@eht-mail01p.xeht.nhs.uk> References: <73EE03F36052BC48BD48C86191489F3B0167B34C@eht-mail01p.xeht.nhs.uk> Message-ID: <4C581FF0.7080101@utc.edu> Wilson, Fraser wrote: > > > An interesting take on early memory. > > > "autobiographical memory" - relevant to Durrell in India ? > > > > The corrected link: http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/many-childhood-memories-imagined-20100802-112ao.html -- ******************************************** Charles L. Sligh Assistant Professor Department of English University of Tennessee at Chattanooga charles-sligh at utc.edu ******************************************** From bredwine1968 at earthlink.net Tue Aug 3 07:31:40 2010 From: bredwine1968 at earthlink.net (Bruce Redwine) Date: Tue, 3 Aug 2010 07:31:40 -0700 Subject: [ilds] The boyhood deeds of Larry Durrell In-Reply-To: <4C581FF0.7080101@utc.edu> References: <73EE03F36052BC48BD48C86191489F3B0167B34C@eht-mail01p.xeht.nhs.uk> <4C581FF0.7080101@utc.edu> Message-ID: <2853518D-533F-4E9C-BFE2-8EDF896E9C25@earthlink.net> Entirely relevant. Charles's idea about Kipling's influence is also relevant. BR On Aug 3, 2010, at 6:56 AM, Charles Sligh wrote: > Wilson, Fraser wrote: >> >> >> An interesting take on early memory. >> >> >> "autobiographical memory" - relevant to Durrell in India ? >> >> >> >> > > The corrected link: > > http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/many-childhood-memories-imagined-20100802-112ao.html > > -- > ******************************************** > Charles L. Sligh > Assistant Professor > Department of English > University of Tennessee at Chattanooga > charles-sligh at utc.edu > ******************************************** From roses12_55126_55126us at yahoo.com Tue Aug 3 12:41:07 2010 From: roses12_55126_55126us at yahoo.com (Joan Pinkney) Date: Tue, 3 Aug 2010 12:41:07 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [ilds] Golding & Durrell In-Reply-To: <31269695.1280438432077.JavaMail.root@elwamui-mouette.atl.sa.earthlink.net> Message-ID: <723964.72914.qm@web30208.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Grove, Loved hearing the info on Durrell/Golding. Keep on with this kind of reporting. Joan Pinkney --- On Thu, 7/29/10, gkoger at mindspring.com wrote: > From: gkoger at mindspring.com > Subject: [ilds] Golding & Durrell > To: ilds at lists.uvic.ca > Date: Thursday, July 29, 2010, 4:20 PM > According to John Carey's new > biography /William Golding: The Man Who Wrote Lord of the > Flies/, Golding thought highly of Durrell's work. > > While writer-in-residence at Hollins College in 1961-62, > Golding taught a course on the modern British novel. At > first he wanted to range as far back as Wells's /The First > Men in the Moon/ (what an inspired choice!) and conclude > with the /AQ/, but after corresponding with the head of the > department narrowed the list to post-1945 fiction. > Apparently the head was concerned over the length and > availability of the /AQ/, but Golding insisted that > something by Durrell was "a must," and offered to "hand > round" his wife's own copies of /Justine/ to the class. He > prevailed, and the final list included the /AQ/. > > The biography is published by Faber in the UK and the Free > Press in the US. > > Grove > > > _______________________________________________ > ILDS mailing list > ILDS at lists.uvic.ca > https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds > From Charles-Sligh at utc.edu Tue Aug 3 12:56:34 2010 From: Charles-Sligh at utc.edu (Charles Sligh) Date: Tue, 03 Aug 2010 15:56:34 -0400 Subject: [ilds] Golding & Durrell In-Reply-To: <723964.72914.qm@web30208.mail.mud.yahoo.com> References: <723964.72914.qm@web30208.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <4C587472.6010609@utc.edu> William Golding: The Man Who Wrote Lord of the Flies By John Carey http://books.google.com/books?id=8sAZ4J_PL3MC&pg=PA253&dq=carey+golding+durrell&hl=en&ei=NXRYTPmfL43tngfuttngCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CDkQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q&f=false ** /William Golding/ John Carey http://www.faber.co.uk/work/william-golding/9780571231638/ ** > > William Golding by John Carey > > Book of the week: Blake Morrison applauds a biography that deals > sensitively with William Golding's private life http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/sep/05/william-golding-john-carey-review ** > William Golding, By John Carey > > Reviewed by DJ Taylor http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/william-golding-by-john-carey-1777979.html -- ******************************************** Charles L. Sligh Assistant Professor Department of English University of Tennessee at Chattanooga charles-sligh at utc.edu ******************************************** From james.d.gifford at gmail.com Sun Aug 8 08:55:04 2010 From: james.d.gifford at gmail.com (James Gifford) Date: Sun, 08 Aug 2010 08:55:04 -0700 Subject: [ilds] Colossus of Maroussi - new edition Message-ID: <4C5ED358.1030009@gmail.com> Hello all, I think some Durrellians may be interested to know New Directions has issued a new edition of Henry Miller's /Colossus of Maroussi/, which ends with a letter from Durrell, with an Afterword by Ian MacNiven. The Introduction is by Will Self. I've not seen it yet but now have a copy on order. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0811218570/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_i2?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=1X0D4FQBV7T2B5V8W9NJ&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846 Best, James From godshawl at ucmail.uc.edu Sun Aug 8 11:20:23 2010 From: godshawl at ucmail.uc.edu (Godshalk, William (godshawl)) Date: Sun, 8 Aug 2010 14:20:23 -0400 Subject: [ilds] Alex real and imagined Message-ID: <94B18F18BF859846A11A82A6166B6C4201C630D444DE@UCMAILBE2.ad.uc.edu> Alexandria Real and Imagined Edited by Anthony Hirst Michael Silk New essays on the varied history of Egypt?s second city Alexandria Real and Imagined offers a complex portrait of an extraordinary city, from its foundation in the fourth century BC up to the present day: a city notable for its history of ethnic diversity, for the legacies of its past imperial grandeur?Ottoman and Arab, Byzantine, Roman and Greek?and, not least, for the memorable images of ?Alexandria? constructed both by outsiders and by inhabitants of the city. In this volume of new essays, Alexandria and its many images?the real and the imagined?are illuminated from a rich variety of perspectives. These range from art history to epidemiology, from social and cultural analysis to re-readings of Cavafy and Callimachus, from the impressions of foreign visitors to the evidence of police records, from the constructions of Alexandria in Durrell and Forster to those in the twentieth-century Arabic novel. Contributors: Mostafa El-Abbadi, Sally-Ann Ashton, George Contis, Giovanni Curatola, Mervat Seif el-Din, Khaled Fahmy, Anne-Marie Guimier-Sorbets, Andrew Harker, Judith Herrin, Azza Kararah, Robert Mabro, Herwig Maehler, Jessie Maritz, James Carleton Paget, David Ricks, David Roessel, Jane Rowandson, Michael Silk, M.B. Trapp, and Anne Wolff. ANTHONY HIRST is a research fellow at the Institute of Byzantine Studies, Queen?s University, Belfast. MICHAEL SILK is a professor in the Department of Classics, King?s College London. From sumantranag at gmail.com Sun Aug 8 23:43:10 2010 From: sumantranag at gmail.com (Sumantra Nag) Date: Mon, 9 Aug 2010 12:13:10 +0530 Subject: [ilds] ILDS Digest, Vol 41, Issue 5_Alexandria Real and Imagined References: Message-ID: I don't think the publisher has been mentioned. Will it be possible to get the name of the publisher and date of publication? Sumantra ------------------------------------- Alexandria Real and Imagined Edited by Anthony Hirst Michael Silk > 2. Alex real and imagined (Godshalk, William (godshawl)) > ------------------------------ > > Message: 2 > Date: Sun, 8 Aug 2010 14:20:23 -0400 > From: "Godshalk, William (godshawl)" > Subject: [ilds] Alex real and imagined > To: "ilds at lists.uvic.ca" > Message-ID: > <94B18F18BF859846A11A82A6166B6C4201C630D444DE at UCMAILBE2.ad.uc.edu> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252" > > > Alexandria Real and Imagined > Edited by Anthony Hirst > Michael Silk > > New essays on the varied history of Egypt?s second city > > Alexandria Real and Imagined offers a complex portrait of an extraordinary > city, from its foundation in the fourth century BC up to the present day: > a city notable for its history of ethnic diversity, for the legacies of > its past imperial grandeur?Ottoman and Arab, Byzantine, Roman and > Greek?and, not least, for the memorable images of ?Alexandria? constructed > both by outsiders and by inhabitants of the city. In this volume of new > essays, Alexandria and its many images?the real and the imagined?are > illuminated from a rich variety of perspectives. These range from art > history to epidemiology, from social and cultural analysis to re-readings > of Cavafy and Callimachus, from the impressions of foreign visitors to the > evidence of police records, from the constructions of Alexandria in > Durrell and Forster to those in the twentieth-century Arabic novel. > Contributors: Mostafa El-Abbadi, Sally-Ann Ashton, George Contis, Giovanni > Curatola, Mervat Seif el-Din, Khaled Fahmy, Anne-Marie G! > uimier-Sorbets, Andrew Harker, Judith Herrin, Azza Kararah, Robert Mabro, > Herwig Maehler, Jessie Maritz, James Carleton Paget, David Ricks, David > Roessel, Jane Rowandson, Michael Silk, M.B. Trapp, and Anne Wolff. > > ANTHONY HIRST is a research fellow at the Institute of Byzantine Studies, > Queen?s University, Belfast. MICHAEL SILK is a professor in the Department > of Classics, King?s College London.