Ανθολογία αιγυπτιώτικης λογοτεχνίας και κριτικής, α΄ τόμος

This two-volume Anthology includes verse or prose texts written by Greek authors who were born and/or lived in Egypt either permanently or for long periods of time, as well as by authors who settled there for shorter periods, from the mid-19th century to our day. The texts represent a wide range of linguistic choices throughout this long time span, from archaism to radical demoticism and the use of Modern Greek idioms; they represent also a considerable genre variety (poems, short stories, excerpts from novels and/or plays, testimonies, experimental or more conventional narratives, and samples of literary criticism). It is well known that the thriving Greek community in Alexandria, as well as in Cairo and other smaller cities, gave rise to the prominent poet C. P. Cavafy, but also to important prose writers, like Stratis Tsirkas, and to interesting literary critics and thinkers, like Dimitros Zachariadis, Timos Malanos and others. However, over the past one and a half century (from Cavafy’s time until the great "exodus" of Greeks during Nasser’s time onwards), numerous scholars, writers, publishers, and intellectuals lived and created in the land of the Nile, most of whom are very little known or almost forgotten. This Anthology offers a unique opportunity for the neglected literary output of the Egyptian/Egyptiotic Greeks to be more systematically studied by modern research, so that we obtain a better perception of its particularities, its complex image and its contribution to Greek literature as a whole. Even if we limit ourselves to Cavafy, we could, among other things, more thoroughly assess his relationship with his Alexandrian milieu, the stance of the Egyptian Greek critics towards the challenge of Cavafy's poetry, and the use of Cavafy’s paradigm by younger Greek speaking writers of Egypt. Additionally, it would be useful to gain a deeper insight into the stance of these Greeks towards the world of Modern Egypt, in order to correct the long-standing «myth» that they did not draw inspiration from their Egyptian context or that they were indifferent to the history and culture, the customs and problems of the native Egyptians (e.g. the fellahin). Only in this way can the position of Cavafy within local Greek letters be understood, while shedding light on aspects of the Greek literature and criticism produced in Egypt. The Anthology is complemented by an extensive Glossary, which is appended to the second volume; this Glossary contains also some of the proper names of the texts that were felt to need definition, interpretation or even correction. Mr. Lefteris Papaleontiou was an Associate Professor at the University of Cyprus.