Dual consciousness

This article is about the concept put forward by Frantz Fanon concerning cultural identity. For the concept in neuroscience, see Dual consciousness (neuroscience).

Dual consciousness is a concept developed by Frantz Fanon in his book Black Skins, White Masks. It deals with the nature of the colonized subject, and the way in which they must simultaneously embrace two different cultural identities.

It is mostly used in discussions of post-colonialism, but is also important to other fields within critical theory.

For a more complete understanding- the original concept "double consciousness" was used and explained in depth years before by W. E. B. Du Bois. Here “double consciousnesses,” which according to Du Bois means a “sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others”.

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Edles, Laura Desfor, and Scott Appelrouth. Sociological Theory in the Classical Era: Text and Readings. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press, 2005.