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The chapter tackles E. M. Forster's Egyptian writings to bring out their almost diametrically opposed positions and thus open up both the overdetermination of genre and the relationship between colonialism and cosmopolitanism at stake. Applying perspectives from narratology and the guidebook genre to Alexandria: A History and a Guide, the chapter argues that the book's historiography and depiction of space are imperial. Informed by Forster's own ambivalent secularism, the spiritual history of the city follows a tragic “emplotment” in that it identifies the syncretic humanism of early Christianity as the high point, then traces a decline under the Copts unto a final fall with the advent of Islam. To counter this Eurocentric/Hellenocentric narrative, the chapter foregrounds Islamic Neoplatonism and Sufism, the latter in connection to mystics of Andalusian/Maghrebian origin associated with the mosques of the elided Arabo-Islamic Alexandria. Whereas Alexandria, in keeping with the imperial genealogy of the guidebook genre, is complicit with British colonialism in Egypt, Forster coextensively produced anti-colonial texts that sought to bear witness to Egyptian subalternity. The anti-colonial commentary of Forster's political tract “Notes on Egypt” is read in terms of the homoerotic relationship he shared with Mohamed El-Adl, the Egyptian tram conductor.

This chapter delves into the psyche of Costa Rica’s identity, providing a historical and sociological analysis of the creation of the dominant – tico – identity from 1870 to the present day, framing these around theories of colonial discourse. Considering work by postcolonial scholars such as Benedict Anderson, Frantz Fanon, Homi Bhabha, Gayatri Spivak, and Judith Butler, it explores how the discourse of centre and ‘Other’ has been created within the nation. It then provides a historical account of ‘Otherness’ within the nation, detailing the existence and rights won by Afro-Costa Rican, feminist, and LGBTQ+ groups, detailing a framework of hybrid subalternity which will be used to consider the challenges put forward to dominant national identity in chapters two and three.

The conclusion summarizes the argument and serves to embed this anthropological contribution—and challenge—to the Subaltern Studies project within the larger academic landscape. Elaborating on the tentative idea that the society of the Andamans may be called a ‘Subalternity Land’, the author revisits both larger themes and theories as well as localized places and ideas discussed throughout the book. In a final reflection on the future of the Andaman society, he attempts to imagine its place in a post-national world.