The Concept of Double Consciousness

The concept of double consciousness

by William Du Bois

Introduction

''The history of the American Negro is the history of this strife, - this longing to attain self-conscious manhood, to merge his double self into a better and truer self.'' This quote, taken out of ''The Souls of Black Folk'' written by the African-American author William Du Bois illustrates quite well his idea of "double consciousness", a term he used to describe the feeling many African-Americans had concerning the background they came from and the experiences they made in the United States. In this term paper I will firstly introduce William Du Bois'concept of double consciousness. After that, I will present other forms and definitions of double consciousness referring to William James, Dickson D.Bruce Jr., Ralph Waldo Emerson, Arnold Rampersad, John Moffatt Mecklin, Roland Littlewood and also Goethes' famous Faust. After that I will present the gist of the Civil War movement because of its relation to Du Bois. Lastly, I will compare Du Bois' concept of double consciousness in the African-American context to my experiences as a Turkish migrant in Germany because a lot of what Du Bois mentions also fits to my observations in Bremen.

W.E.B. Du Bois

In order to understand W.E.B. Du Bois' concept it is vital to know something about Du Bois Origins and circumstances of his life. William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was born on February 23rd, 1868 in Massachusetts into a black middle-class family. He studied in Harvard and graduated there in 1882 with a master in history. He worked as a journalist and was also a leading figure in the American Civil Rights Movement that changed the society of the United States from 1954 to 1968. Aside from being a civil rights activist, he also was a sociologist, historian and a Pan-Africanist and one of the co-founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909. William Du Bois died in Ghana on August 27th, 1963.

The Souls of Black Folk

The piece of writing by Du Bois and that I will focus on is ''The Souls of Black Folk''. Therefore, I will roughly summarize its gist. The book was first published in 1903 and contains various essays dealing with race, class and society in the United States of the beginning 20th century. Du Bois focuses on the problem of the color line in the year's right after the civil war. He tells the audience about the complications in the life of blacks. He also emphasizes on Booker T. Washington who was an important leading figure in the civil rights movement. Anyways, Du Bois criticizes him for his actions. Du Bois claims that Washington was too materialistic and brought everything else but equality between blacks and whites.

The writing style of this book is also a point I would like to focus on. When reading this book the reader realizes that Du Bois wrote in a very frustrated way and therewith creates a very emotional and also personal mood.

"With other black boys the strife was not so fiercely sunny: their youth shrunk into tasteless sycophancy, or into silent hatred of the pale world about them and mocking distrust of everything white, or wasted itself in a bitter cry."

On this quote I will explain this personal frustrated and emotional mood I referred to. " the strife was not so fiercely sunny" is one of the metaphors in this context to create a picture in the head of the reader to make clear that their situation is not good at all. He also uses the term "black boys" which is not politically correct even in 1903. There is and was a construction in society which makes it all right for African Americans to call themselves black and also say that to each other. Nevertheless, the usage of this word is not academic.

He uses many negative descriptive adjectives to explain the bad state of the African American youth such as bitter, wasted, mocking and tasteless. This variety of adjectives makes it more entertaining and imaginable.

This style of writing keeps going on through the whole book and that's why Du Bois creates a desperate frustrated atmosphere. For this reason one can see that Du Bois writes from a very subjective and personal perspective.

Du Bois' Double Consciousness

Now, I would like to come to Du Bois' concept of double consciousness. What is this double consciousness which first appeared in his essay ''Striving of the Negro People'' which was published in 1897 and later on also in ''The Souls of Black Folk'' in 1903 in a revised form?

'' One ever feels his two-ness,-- an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder'' That is how Du Bois defines the term double consciousness. It deals with the feeling of being American and African/ Negro. This actually refers to problems of self- identity. Blacks were not treated equally and Du Bois demanded equality without any compromises.

Another important quote described by Du Bois about double consciousness is the following one: "this sence of always looking at one's self through the eyes of other, of measuring one's soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity. "

So what is meant by double consciousness now? Double consciousness contains both the racist images produced by the white racist American citizens and the images by the African American Community. This lead to a self-identity problem and it was a burden for the African Americans trying to "make it possible for a man to be both a Negro and an American without being cursed and spit upon by his fellows, without having the doors of opportunity closed roughly in his face" Obviously, there was a construction established within society which made it psychologically hard for African Americans to live. Du Bois book is an attempt to overcome those standards by mediating his concept to make it possible for African Americans to have a fulfilled life without racism and segregation.

Other forms of Double Consciousness

Many people developed ideas in relation with double consciousness. Du Bois himself probably took the idea of his double consciousness from his former mentor William James and changed it. James who was a Harvard professor from 1873 to 1907 referred in