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Anti-Cosmopolitanism In Justine

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Anti-cosmopolitanism in Justine Anti-cosmopolitans reject the view of cosmopolitan universalism and its embrace of different moralities, cultures, races and nationalities. They prefer absolute and contextual morality; meaning morals depending on the situations. Anti-cosmopolitanism is extremely prominent in Justine. Lawrence Durrell 's stance towards Alexandrian cosmopolitanism, in light of his Irish Origin, underlies a Western imperialistic tone throughout the novel. The historical background behind the novel is extremely essential to the understanding of Lawrence Durrell 's criticisms. This is a novel set in the 1940s, the time when Durrell first moves to Alexandria, during World War two. It has been a time when nationalism is prevalent …show more content…

He cannot come to terms with the fact that Europeans coexist with the Arabs. The presence of his fellow Europeans renders him incapable of defining and molding the city to his own condescending and Orientalist conceptions. It is not that his view of Alexandria is completely fictional however; he focuses solely on the down side of the city. This is the reason his story centers on the European corner, mostly ignoring the Native quarter. He never gives the Arabs a voice in his novel, with the exception of the rich and influential Nessim. When he does mention venturing into their corner, he describes it as: "a thousand dust-tormented streets. Flies and beggars own it today" He constantly likens the people to "objects" (41-42), "monkeys" (177) and "talking watermelons" (125) all his descriptions are laden with disgust and superiority towards the Egyptians. Another instance is when he speaks of child prostitutes (42) and whore houses (150-151) Darley 's associations with the native quarter are limited to brothels. His vocabulary when associated with the Arabs is dedicated to ridicule their speech, poverty or the way the dress. He is successful in segregating the European quarter from the Arab quarter, dumping his views of the the city on the Arab quarter. His observations are extremely racist and offer no deeper insight to the foreign reader, contributing only to further the misconceptions of the West about

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