The Nubians, the largest ethnic community in Egypt, have seen their ancestral homelands disappear beneath the waters of the Nile from the dawn of the 20th century until 1964. The massive displacement of this population has been the subject of numerous literary works by Nubian writers who seek to save their heritage from oblivion and to preserve their Nubian collective memory. Despite the obvious socio-political renewed interest in Nubia in post-2011 Egypt, we claim that art in general and literature in particular remain the domain in which the problematics of the Nubian issue can be primarily vocalized. We believe that only through a thorough reading and analysis of the literary output of Egyptian Nubians that the complexities of Nubia, its people and culture can find full expression.
