W. E. B. Du Bois and the Souls of Black Folk - (The John Hope Franklin African American History and Culture) by Stephanie J Shaw (Paperback)

About the Book

W. E. B. Du Bois and The Souls of Black Folk

Book Synopsis

In this book, Stephanie J. Shaw brings a new understanding to one of the great documents of American and black history. While most scholarly discussions of The Souls of Black Folk focus on the veils, the color line, double consciousness, or Booker T. Washington, Shaw reads Du Bois' book as a profoundly nuanced interpretation of the souls of black Americans at the turn of the twentieth century.
Demonstrating the importance of the work as a sociohistorical study of black life in America through the turn of the twentieth century and offering new ways of thinking about many of the topics introduced in Souls, Shaw charts Du Bois' successful appropriation of Hegelian idealism in order to add America, the nineteenth century, and black people to the historical narrative in Hegel's philosophy of history. Shaw adopts Du Bois' point of view to delve into the social, cultural, political, and intellectual milieus that helped to create The Souls of Black Folk.

Review Quotes

"A must-read for Hegel fans who also love Du Bois. . . . Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above." -- CHOICE

"An enhanced comprehension of one of the seminal works of both U.S. and African American History." -- Louisiana History

"Offers a deeper examination into the philosophical, religious, and intellectual aims that unfortunately have received only minimal attention in scholarship past. . . . Place[s] itself at the forefront of contemporary Du Bois scholarship." -- Journal of the North Carolina Association of Historians

"Opens up new vistas on how to rescue teleology from the tight grip of postmodern despair while avoiding the ghosts of nineteenth-century essentialisms." -- Journal of American History