Egyptian nationalist artists’ political unity coexisted with firm belief in class hierarchy

Evidence

Along with many other artists and writers, Taymür was strongly influenced by this political movement, and his characters symbolize a panoply of Egyptians from all walks of life. But as his harsh criticism of more populist artists reveals, Taymür’s sense of political unity conflicted with his deeper sense of, and belief in, hierarchies of class. Beneath the challenging questions Taymür put to his audience about changing social morals, particularly about drug use and adultery, Taymür’s true question asked which class of Egyptians would lead Egypt into modernity. — Eve M. Troutt Powell, A Different Shade of Colonialism_…, 944

Categorization

• XREF: The tension between nationalist unity rhetoric and class hierarchy vigilance parallels the reader’s comparative frame — analogous to how colonial administrations claimed unity while enforcing racial/ethnic hierarchies.