The Souls of Black Folk (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)

By W.E.B. Du Bois and David W. Blight

Book Overview

The Souls of Black Folk , by W. E. B. Du Bois, is part of the Barnes & Noble Classics series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of Barnes & Noble Classics New introductions commissioned from today's top writers and scholars Biographies of the authors Chronologies of contemporary historical, biographical, and cultural events Footnotes and endnotes Selective discussions of imitations, parodies, poems, books, plays, paintings, operas, statuary, and films inspired by the work Comments by other famous authors Study questions to challenge the reader's viewpoints and expectations Bibliographies for further reading Indices & Glossaries, when appropriate All editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest. Barnes & Noble Classics pulls together a constellation of influencesbiographical, historical, and literaryto enrich each reader's understanding of these enduring works. One of the most influential books ever published in America, W. E. B. Du Bois s The Souls of Black Folk is an eloquent collection of fourteen essays that describe the life, the ambitions, the struggles, and the passions of African Americans at the transition from the nineteenth to the twentieth century. The first African American to receive a Ph.D. from Harvard University, Du Bois was a sociologist, historian, novelist, and activist whose astounding career spanned the nation s history from Reconstruction to the Civil Rights Movement. In The Souls of Black Folk , published in 1903, Du Bois argued against the conciliatory position taken by Booker T. Washington, at the time the most influential black leader in America, and called for a more radical form of aggressive protesta strategy that would anticipate and inspire much of the activism of the 1960s. Du Bois s essays were the first to articulate many of Black America s thoughts and feelings, including the dilemma posed by the black psyche s double consciousness, which Du Bois described as this twonessan American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings . . . in one dark body. Every essay in The Souls of Black Folk is a jewel of intellectual prowess, eloquent language, and groundbreaking insight. It is essential reading for anyone interested in the struggle for Civil Rights in America. Farah Jasmine Griffin is Professor of English and Comparative Literature and African-American Studies at Columbia University in New York City. "

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1593081715
• ISBN13: 9781593081713
• Release Date: January 2005
• Publisher: Barnes & Noble Classics
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 1.04 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.4" x 0.9" x 5.8"

Customer Reviews

Souls

A very visual journey from the eyes of the author, through the period after post slavery and reconstruction. Not too much has changed up until today.

Activist, Spiritual, Educational, Anthropological, and Poetic American Masterpiece

This work, written in the first decade of the twentieth century, is activist, spiritual, educational (on the history of African American life from the time of its publication back to the Civil War), anthropological, and poetic. "The Souls of Black Folk" should be in anthropological curriculums throughout the country, right alongside Margaret Mead's "Coming of Age in Samoa." For me, it showed, firstly, how slowly progress in the quality of life for African Americans had been since the Emancipation Proclamation up to 1903, and then, how slowly it has been in coming since the publication of this book to the present. We still have today a racial inequity on a scale that I, personally, am guessing will seem as barbaric in 100 years, just as the Jim Crow laws of the past seem barbaric to us now. DuBois was the first African American to receive a Ph.D. from Harvard and is credited as being one of the two leaders of the Harlem Renaissaince, Alain Locke being the other. I think this is one of the most important books on American culture that I know of, as well as an excellent document on the details of African American life, particularly in the years preceeding the works' completion.

The Black Emerson

If you are unaquainted with this book or with this author, you should remedy the situation immediately. In terms of eloquence, clear and ringing prose, descriptive power and any other quality that seperates great writers from mediocre ones, Dubois stands in the first rank. If Afro-Americans had had access to this book on a mass scale, there would have been a third real revolution in this country (I include the Civil War, obviously). This is the voice of suffering, but also of great ideas and ironclad arguement. It is also an incitement and very much an indictment, against racial boundaries that have plagued this nation since its inception. Dubois was and is one of the most powerful voices this country has ever produced. My jaw dropped on numerous occasions when first reading this text. He conveyed better than any other author, and there have been many great ones (Baldwin, Morrison, Wright, etc.) what it means to be "seperate, but equal." He is never an apologist. He at all moments maintains the dignity of his race. I really prefer in all aspects his demaeanor to Marcus Garvey's, even though that author was a more prominent "player." For modern revisionists (like Jane Smiley)who think that "Uncle Tom's Cabin" was "great literature," I would recommend that they read this text and then decide. One voice is authentic, the other sorely disingenuous, and even, historically, counter-productive.