The rise of 20th century nationalisms is entwined with Egypt's marginalization of Nubian Egyptians: building up their own self-image within the framework of Arab nationalism, Egyptians thus rejected black Nubian culture as ‘the other,’ despite its culturally and politically significant role in the region. This ‘othering’ continues to play out in the contemporary misrepresentation of Nubian Egyptians in Egyptian national media and journalism. Seeking to contextualize that phenomenon through an analysis of relevant history and literature, this research paper focuses on the literary production and political activism of Nubian Egyptian writer Muhammad Khalil Qasim (1912-1968), particularly the writing of his novel Ashamandoura during his years in Egypt’s Oasis Jail. Moreover, it juxtaposes the critical responses of Abdul-Rahman Al Sharaqwi's novel "Al-Ard" with Qasim's novel to explain the binaries media and national culture reception of two Egyptian unique literary productions. Written around the same time period yet published almost ten years apart, the two novels “Ashamandoura” and “Al-Ard” have received completely different critical and reading responses. Sharaqawi's novel was published in 1954, two years after the Egyptian revolution and translated in several foreign languages. Moreover, 'Al-Ard' was transformed into a movie by Youssef Chahine and ever since considered a breaking novel in celebration of 1952 successful end of feudalism. This disparity in accrediting both writers reveal basic bias in what should constitute an example for an Egyptian rural themes. Hence, the theoretical framework of this paper relies heavily on what Stuart Hall reception theory. Hall's approach to engaging the audience in the textual analysis might give an insight on why there is a difference in recognizing both literary works. By the time Nubian Egyptian writer Qasim was writing from jail about his inundated lost village of "Qattah", Sharqawi was celebrated for his outrageous exposition of injustices, political corruption and feudalism during British Colonial Egypt.