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ID: 098330

Darkwater’s democratic vision / Balfour, Lawrie

Balfour, Lawrie	Journal Article
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Publication

2010.

Summary/Abstract

This essay considers W. E. B. Du Bois's Darkwater (1920) as a window onto Du Bois's political theory at an underexamined stage of his career and onto a challenge at the heart of black political thought: how to formulate a conception of collective life that regards the humanity of black women and men as a central concern. Exploring Du Bois's attempt to articulate what can be seen through the lens of an avowedly "black" perspective and his creative juxtaposition of different modes of writing, the author suggests why Darkwater remains a valuable resource for democratic theory in an age misleadingly described as "post-racial."

Key Words

Colonialism ; Du Bois ; Black Political Thought ; Darkwater ; Post - Racial

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ID: 088370

On the Passing of the First-Born Son / Shannon Mariotti

Shannon Mariotti	Journal Article
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Publication

2009.

Summary/Abstract

Both Ralph Waldo Emerson's and W. E. B. Du Bois' firstborn sons tragically died at very young ages. Drawing from the essays where they write about their grief, I explore Du Bois' "subversion" and "revision" of Emerson's thought by contrasting their visual metaphors: Emerson's "focal distancing" and Du Bois' practice of "second sight" and seeing through "the Veil." I show how the disruptive particular event of the deaths of their sons causes both to challenge the idealist elements of their respective gazes. I draw upon Theodor Adorno to explore the larger lessons of these reconsiderations. In recognizing the seductive dangers of the idealist gaze and the value of the disruptive particular, Adorno explicitly theorizes what Emerson and Du Bois also come to appreciate, in a less overt way, in their moments of loss.

Key Words

Vision ; Particularity ; Emerson ; Du Bois ; Adorno

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