The Souls of Black Folk

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The title page of the second edition

The Souls of Black Folk is a classic work of American literature by W.E.B. Du Bois. It is a seminal work in the history of sociology, and a cornerstone of African-American literary history.

The book, published in 1903, contains several essays on race, some of which had been previously published in Atlantic Monthly magazine. Du Bois drew from his own experiences to develop this groundbreaking work on being African-American in American society. Outside of its notable place in African-American history, The Souls of Black Folk also holds an important place in social science as one of the early works to deal with sociology.

In Living Black History,^[1] Du Bois biographer Manning Marable observes:

Few books make history and fewer still become foundational texts for the movements and struggles of an entire people. The Souls of Black Folk occupies this rare position. It helped to create the intellectual argument for the black freedom struggle in the twentieth century. Souls justified the pursuit of higher education for Negroes and thus contributed to the rise of the black middle class. By describing a global color-line, Du Bois anticipated pan-Africanism and colonial revolutions in the Third World. Moreover, this stunning critique of how 'race' is lived through the normal aspects of daily life is central to what would become known as 'whiteness studies' a century later.

Furthermore, one may argue, in light of the race relations in and outside of the United States that Du Bois rightfully predicts in this 1903 text that "the problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color line".

[edit] References

(January 2003) Reconsidering the Souls of Black Folk, (Hardcover), Philadelphia: Running Press. ISBN 0-7624-1349-2.

^ p. 96

[edit] Bibliography

[1903] (September 1996) in Judy Boss, ed.: The Souls of Black Folk, Modified from 1989 Bantam Classic text, Charlottesville: UVA Electronic Text Center. Retrieved on 2006-03-22.
(January 1987) Writings [The Suppression of the African Slave-Trade / The Souls of Black Folk / Dusk of Dawn / Essays and Articles], (Hardcover), New York: Library of America. ISBN 0-940450-33-X. No commentary, just a brief "Note on the Texts."
(August 1995) The Souls of Black Folk, 100th Anniversary Edition? (Paperback), New York: Signet Classic. ISBN 0-451-52603-1. Introduction by Randall Kenan.
(April 1996) The Souls of Black Folk, Penguin Classics reprint (paperback), New York: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-018998-X. Introduction by Donald B. Gibson.
(April 1999) in Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Terri Hume Oliver, eds.: The Souls of Black Folk: Authoritative Text, Contexts, Criticism, Norton Critical Edition (1st ed. paperback), New York: W. W. Norton. ISBN 0-393-97393-X. Includes photos from 1901 article, several contemporary essays, a chronology of Du Bois's life, annotations, and historical texts relating to the work.