Description
The Souls of Black Folk is both a groundbreaking work of sociology and an influential cornerstone of African-American literature. From the moment it was published in 1903, this unique and stirring blend of history, essay, fiction, and memoir set the terms of the conversation about race in America and established W. E. B. Du Bois's enduring reputation as poet, prophet, and scholar.
Du Bois famously named "the problem of the color line" that still haunts us today and diagnosed the "double consciousness" of a people forced to live behind a veil. In raising that veil, his book makes an impassioned claim for the power and potential of black culture, the accomplishments of its art, the depths of its spirituality, and its capacity for grandeur in thought and expression. With the lyricism of his prose and the ease with which he moves from the immediacy of journalism and sociology to the permanence of literature, Du Bois transforms a profound historical dilemma into the matter of art. But more importantly, by tracing the tragic past that led to the inequities of the present, he outlined the way forward in the struggle for freedom. It is a testament to his prescience that after more than a century his masterpiece retains its relevance and uncompromising power.Author: W. E. B. Du Bois
Publisher: Everyman's Library
Published: 10/26/1993
Pages: 272
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.86lbs
Size: 8.33h x 5.18w x 0.82d
ISBN13: 9780679428022
ISBN10: 067942802X
BISAC Categories:
- History | United States | General
- Literary Criticism | American | African American & Black
- Social Science | Discrimination
About the Author
W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963), writer, civil rights activist, scholar, and editor, is one of the most significant intellectuals in American history. A founding member of the NAACP, editor for many years of The Crisis and three other journals, and author of seventeen books, his writings, speeches, and public debates brought fundamental changes to American race relations.