Talk:Double consciousness

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Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment[edit]

This article is or was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Ninjasareawesome234, Cauldren8.

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Elaboration[edit]

This page needs more. Double consciousness is a major term, one still in use and still important. It was picked up on by Franz Fanon (I think), Paul Gilroy, and others. Also, I think this needs connection to political consciousness. --Dylanfly 15:45, 28 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

There is also a lot of redundancy, particularly with the presiding concept of "Double consciousness is an awareness of one's self as well as an awareness of how others perceive that person." — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.165.18.36 (talk) 04:10, 12 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Psychology[edit]

Isn't double conciousness also a psychological concept? Not just a social one? How come only one aspect is explored in this article? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.240.197.222 (talk) 07:00, 3 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I agree. It would be great to see a big expansion of this article. I'd love to see a discussion on the question "Can white Americans have double consciousness?" —Preceding unsigned comment added by 199.234.152.10 (talk) 03:40, 12 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Fiction is one way in which double consciousness can be explored. See Mark Twain's Pudd'nhead Wilson for what happens when a baby of African American heritage and a baby of Anglo American heritage are swapped at birth. This novel raises the question of what it means to "pass" for white or black in a country where color is so important. (See also Nella Larsen's Passing for the effect of color barriers on people's lives.) In "real life," a test of double consciousness for a white American could come if s/he were living in a foreign country where there were few if any other white people around. I lived 17 years in the Far East, where I often went "unnoticed" by those around me by adopting local behaviors. However, because "light skin" is valued over "dark skin" in the Far East, most people when they noticed me showed me deference rather than despise. "Despise" has historically been the lot of people of almost any amount of African heritage in the United States, a point brilliantly raised by Du Bois and not undone by the recent victory of Barack Obama as president of the United States. (For evidence of the effect on people of color, please see the history of miscegenation laws and voting discrimination laws in the U.S.)--Monty Vierra, 23:48, 8 November 2008.

Yea you should see if there's any psychology in more detail to it such as the effects it has on the brain and the theories behind it to add some more detail specifically neurological detail to it. goodluck! val.delrio — Preceding unsigned comment added by Val.delrio (talk • contribs) 15:23, 12 October 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Clean-up needed[edit]

This is a general clean-up section for areas of the article that need editing. Please go through this section and resolve any parts left if you are able to.

Several sections were blanked without explanation a month or so, so I've restored them for folks to look at. One section seems to have been plagiarized from a school website, so I've removed it, but I can't tell that the other sections are plagiarized, so I've left them up in hopes that maybe someone else can find a source. In the meantime, the restoration has caused some duplicate statements that need to be cleaned up, but I'll let people who know more about this topic take care of that. Thanks, Aristophanes68 (talk) 06:37, 11 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

There is a bit of digression on the section 'African American with Double Consciousness'. A few citations are needed for the discussion on the 'Sweet Low, Sweet Chariot' poem. Also, it would help if someone tied back in the part about the myth of the flying African to double consciousness. Its mentioning made sense, but I felt there was too much digression from the topic without enough explanation.

Cauldren8 (talk) 20:29, 16 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Background of Double Consciousness[edit]

Apparently it has roots in psychology and philosophy including William James's discussion of a "primary and secondary consciousness" in some cases. Check out the source: "WEB Du Bois and the Idea of Double Consciousness" by Dickson D. Bruce Jr. (I got to it through JSTOR, in case you have it).

"Double Consciousness" is also a concept of the co-existence of habitual and intentional behaviours discussed extensively by Darwin in his note books M and N around the year 1838. "The possibility of two quite separate trains going on in the mind as in double consciousness may really explain what habit is — In the habitual train of thought one idea, calls up other, & the consciousness of double individual is not awakened.— The habitual individual remembers things done in the other habitual state because it will (without direct consciousness?) change its habits.— Aug. 16th" Charles Darwin, Note Book M p, 83e — Preceding unsigned comment added by ProfPardal (talk • contribs) 06:00, 20 October 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I added another aspect of the meaning of double consciousness as explained by Du Bois in "The Souls of Black Folk". It was a minor change, the overall structure and meaning of the opening descriptive paragraph was not affected. Dcauley5 (talk) 22:27, 27 September 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Bibliography[edit]

Just thought I'd add a list of relevant sources for a bibliography. This is useful for anyone who wants to get a bit more info on a certain section. Actual citations will still be needed. You guys add to or remove from this list as you see fit.

http://scua.library.umass.edu/duboisopedia/doku.php?id=about:double_consciousness

Du Bois, W. E. B. (1903). The Souls of Black Folk. New York: Dover Publications.

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/double-consciousness/ ----> for the user that wanted to add info about double consciousness as a psychological concept. Also contains a huge list of useful literature.

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ug03/souls/defpg.html

http://www.wwnorton.com/college/history/give-me-liberty4/docs/WEBDuBois-Souls_of_Black_Folk-1903.pdf ----> contains an easy-access pdf link to the entire work. Use the find tool if you want to look for anything specific.

Cauldren8 (talk) 19:42, 16 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Other Uses[edit]

I have changed the heading titled "Uses outside of Du Bois" to "Other Uses" to reflect the theme of the section. The content introduces the use of double consciousness to aspects unrelated to 'African American double consciousness', such as feminism. For this reason, it should be open to reflect any alternative usage because there are other uses of the term by people other than Du Bois that relate it to African American double consciousness. The section is now open to any other uses of the term if they so arise. Cauldren8 (talk) 00:55, 17 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Gilroy and the Black Atlantic[edit]

I added a new section called Gilroy and the Black Atlantic. It has a couple citations but it's still fairly new. Feel free to add stuff to it and edit as you go along. Cauldren8 (talk) 02:28, 17 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Double consciousness for women of color[edit]

Hey guys. I saw the section double consciousness in relation to women and feminism. It had no citations and unattributed quotations. I fixed up the first paragraph, but I think someone with more knowledge on the subject should clean up the rest. It's missing several links as well. I also changed the title to better reflect the content of the section. Cauldren8 (talk) 18:01, 17 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Future edits[edit]

Hey y'all! I added intersectionality to the see also category. I think it closely ties to double consciousness and will be relevant to readers of this page. I will report back with other edits that I might make. Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions or concerns about any of my edits! Watsonkamryn (talk) 15:06, 10 October 2020 (UTC)[reply]

The third full paragraph of the lead section needs citations. the information is great, just needs to be backed up. I am working on citing, but if anyone else wants to add anything, that'd be great! Watsonkamryn (talk) 02:21, 15 October 2020 (UTC)[reply]

'Intersectionality' in the section 'See also' is a very good addition, in my opinion. Thank you! Laurier (talk) 09:51, 15 October 2020 (UTC)[reply]

LGBTQ?[edit]

I mean no disrespect but the subject of LGBTQ has no correlation whatsoever with any publications associated with W.E.Bs concept of "double consciousness" nor is it in any way applicable to anything outside of a race based society. (According to his works) Any contemporary re-interpretations of his work should be attributed specifically to the individual or groups own categorical experiences. If I am wrong I would like to see a source where he has conflated the sexuality and race. 2603:8081:6D03:55A2:B854:B7E6:3F6B:8588 (talk) 16:15, 5 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for your contribution. I agree. Laurier (talk) 15:01, 22 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]