Reading:
-Norton biographical note on Booker T. Washington (1628-30)... you can't understand Dubois without this
-Dubois biographical note & The Souls of Black Folk (1727-44)
-Norton headnote, "Debates over Americanization" (1851-52)
-Roosevelt biographical note & American Ideals (1857-60)
-Marti biographical note & "Our America" (1868-70)
Questions: Letitia, Meg, Teresa, Ting Ju, Tracy, Viola, Winnie
Answers:
Jane (107). How might the growth of an African-American reading audience as described at the bottom of page 1728 affect the styles and themes of African-American authors? How might this provide a solution to Emma's question about why 1890s authors like Dunbar and Chesnutt were criticized by black intellectuals in the 1920s?
Ken (108). Give at least two additional examples of a person or group who has experienced "double consciousness," and explain why you think the term is applicable.
Sharon (109). Explain how Chesnutt and Dunbar represent themes similar to Dubois' theory of "double consciousness" in their writing. Give examples.
Sherry (110). I am perturbed by Dubois' phrase "corruption from white adulterers" on 1733. Does he refer to sexual or moral corruption? Or does he refer to a kind of racial or biological corruption? I mean, does Dubois accept a theory of "race" even as he rejects a theory of racial superiority/inferiority? If so, does he accept it as a scientific fact, or as a sociological one (see 1734)?
Sydney (111). Why do you think Dubois starts each chapter of The Souls of Black Folk with a pairing of poetry and musical notes? And why does he make these specific choices of poetry and music?
Ted (112). Roosevelt is a fascinating figure to study, because his writing and political activity produce so many contradictions. For instance, he seems to have at least three contradictory attitudes about race. First, he often argued for the superiority of the so-called "Anglo-Saxon" race, similarly to O'Sullivan. Second, American Ideals seems to broaden the idea of a superior race to include a "mix" of Anglo-Saxons and other Europeans, most notably the Irish. And yet it is not all-inclusive; apparently those of African, Hispanic, Chinese, or aboriginal ancestry, etc. "do not assimilate readily" (1858) and therefore cannot be "Americanized." Third, Roosevelt sometimes acted as a supporter of African-Americans... even courting political controversy by dining with Booker T. Washington at the White House! Is there any way to reconcile these contradictory views?
Natalie (113). What does Marti mean by "America"? How is it different than what Roosevelt means? How is it similar? Finally, interpret Marti's metaphor "like silver in the veins of the Andes" (1869).
Bonus:
A few clips from the movie Bamboozled, in which the famous African-American filmmaker Spike Lee criticizes contemporary black entertainers and their white employers for perpetuating harmful stereotypes. The movie begins with this montage of stereotypes in U.S. popular entertainment from around 1920-1950. What we see there is a failure to control the means of representation, as white musicians, actors, and cartoonists ridicule not only the physical appearance or intellectual ability of African-Americans, but also ridicule their musical and religious traditions. (We may consider the early period of Disney cartoons in the same manner.) Later in the movie, Lee shows how even with all the political gains of blacks, they still have the same problem with controlling cultural representation. So there's this video, which makes fun of the marketing of the clothing brand Tommy Hilfiger; listen for the use of the word "authentic." And then this video, which makes fun of the use of the "gangster" image in hip-hop music and in liquor marketing.
The one that got away:
There's always one! I didn't answer Emma's question about why later black writers (the Harlem Renaissance school of the 1920s) criticized Dunbar (and Chesnutt) for "selling out" to the white majority audience. I think partly this expresses a generational conflict, as we see in all communities, but particularly in artistic/literary ones. It could be a class conflict insofar as Dunbar's family was quite poor whereas these new intellectuals were a highly educated "talented tenth." It's also possible that they just didn't see the subversive side of Dunbar's poetry or Chesnutt's stories that I discussed. To me, when we evaluate an artist, we must allow for his/her situation... in some situations it is easier to control the means of representation, and in some situations it is more difficult. The challenge of Dunbar in the 1890s is different from that of Hughes or Hurston in the 1920s, different from Baldwin, Wright, or Ellison in the 1950s, different from that of Morrison in the 1990s, different from that of Equiano in the 1780s, from Jacobs and Douglass in the 1850s, etc. etc. Oh, and here's Emma's link from the last blog post... "Malindy" read aloud in African-American dialect, and then in standard American English.
The other one that got away:
Clara discussed reunion scenes in African-American fiction and autobiography. Her post gave a good explanation of how this device refers to the separation of black families during slavery, their fleeting reunions, and their possibility to be reunified in freedom. The one thing I'd like to add about Chesnutt is that the reunion in "Wife of His Youth" is actually somewhat different. The danger here is not from slavery or exploitation by whites, but rather that of internal differences splitting the African-American community. You may compare it in some sense to the "jeremiads" of Bradford or Thoreau... warnings that a community has lost its values, or is in danger of losing them.
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This is Natalie who is going to answer question 113.
ReplyDeleteThe meaning of the word 'America' in Marti's "From Our America" refers to South America, especially to the areas being colonized. On the contrary, what Roosevelt's 'America' refers to the North America. The similarity between Marti and Roosevelt is that they proclaim that people living in the 'America' should gather together.
Their purpose of 'gather together' is different. Marti wants Americans to gathere together in order to fight against the colonial/imperial power. On the other hands, Roosecelt thinks that only when immigrants in the American 'Americalized' do they have the equal rights as the native-born Americans have. Marti respect the racial diversity, while Roosevelt strongly opposes it. Roosevelt believes that immigrants should give up their 'root' and turn into an 'American' entirely.
Finally, Marti's metaphor "like silver in the veins of the Andes"(1869) denotes that people of (South) America should gather together without hatred toward each other, just like silver distributes peacefully and closely with other minerals in the vein of Andes. By doing so, they can have the chance to fight against the colonial/imperist power.
This Ken answering the Q108.
ReplyDeleteStereotype, Racism, Internal conflict
I think the situation of aboriginals in Taiwan is one of the examples to illustrate double consciousness concept. In Taiwan society, non-aboriginals are dominant group of society, people usually possess stereotypes on aboriginals’ life and thoughts such as aboriginals have no sense of saving, care nothing about education, and they are all hedonists who live their life entirely for pleasure. Moreover, in Taiwan, aboriginals are mostly belonged to the lower social class and serving as part-time, construction labor. People (both aboriginals and non-aboriginals) had tried to alter the situation, but the effect is rarely influential. Based on this fact, there is also racism that excluded aboriginals in Taiwan from the mainstream of society. Thirdly, the internal confliction between being Taiwanese and aboriginals has been brought up by several aboriginal writers and social critics (also documentary filmmaker! The film “Voice of Orchid Island” by Hu Tai-li; 蘭嶼觀點 胡台麗導演 is a resource to rethink the life of aboriginals on Orchid Island and the relation between Taiwan society. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Bh5JOu91MU)
The other example to illustrate it would be people who lived in Taiwan during the period of Japanese occupation. In that specific time period, Japanese are the dominant group over the society and people who lived in Taiwan are treated as second-class citizens. The stereotype on Taiwanese that Japanese hold is that Taiwanese are labors for exploiting natural resources in Taiwan and then send the resource back to Japan. Secondly, the racism that separates Japanese from Taiwanese is a prevailing phenomenon in that time. The most lucid evidence about the racism can be explained in the education system. Japanese and Taiwanese are separated (right from the elementary school stage) into two different schools; one is exclusively for Japanese students (who can possess better resources due to the small number of students) and the other one is for Taiwanese students. To add on, Taiwanese students are mostly trained in vocational schools in order to sustain the workforce, and there are only a few students can get the chance to attend professional medical or law training. Thirdly, the internal confliction of being Taiwanese or Japanese can be discovered at the time of end of Japanese occupation period and there are many resources discussing the identity disorder during that time; films such as “A Borrowed Life” (多桑 吳念真導演,) “A City of Sadness” (悲情城市 侯孝賢導演,) “Hill of No Return” (無言的山丘 王童導演) are all depicting the concept of double consciousness that Taiwanese had suffered after the end of Japanese occupation.
多桑 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7-nu-C6kz8
悲情城市 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Z6yZKccL9g
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis is Jane answering question 107
ReplyDeleteIn my understanding, authors should be discussed under their own social surroundings and historical situations. Many writers were criticized after certain period of time with the political, economic (and other social situations) change of their group. It’s because there are less restrictions and more freedom for the later author to write. Dunbar and Chestnut’s writing were being criticized by black intellectuals in the 1920s approximately 20 years after their work was published. When the Civil War has came to an end in 1860s, the period of Reconstruction starts. Slaves have been set free after the civil war but their social and economic situation falls even worse than before. As B. T. Washington proposes that African Americans should compromise their equal rights for economic opportunities, the fight was hidden under the compromising position to the whites. Dunbar and Chestnut did “catering to a white audience” for they need the white audience to support their ideas and to fight for them. (This we have been discussed in class, I supposed.)
As for Dubois and other Harlem Renaissance critics, they have a large amount of black audience who can support the radical resistance as Black patrons, Black-owned businesses and Black publications. In other words, the Black has enough audience to get easier means of representation than before.
In 1910, Dubois helped created a newly formed organization National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). He also founded “The Crisis” magazine. Dubois proclaimed the aim is to “show the danger of race prejudice…toward colored people…for the highest ideals of American democracy, and for reasonable but earnest and persistent attempts to gain these rights and realize these ideals” The Crisis magazine published monthly and by 1920 its circulation had reached 100.000 copies. Huber Harrison established the first organization (The Liberty League) and the first news paper (The Voice) of the “New- Negro Movement” in 1917.
The fact that during the 1920s, the Blacks no longer need to hidden the messages within the traditional writing, they can speak as they want needless to note the danger of being wiped out.
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The following message is what I find for another Du Bois’ idea: “Talented Tenth.”
From Wikipedia: The Talented Tenth was an influential article written by W. E. B. Du Bois and published in September 1903Du Bois used the term "the talented tenth" to describe the likelihood of one in ten black men becoming leaders of their race in the world, through methods such as continuing their education, writing books, or becoming directly involved in social change. He believed they needed a classical liberal education to reach their true destiny as what would in the 20th century be called public intellectuals.
This is Letitia’s question
ReplyDeletePlease compare and contrast the core motivation, goal, and the authorities’ attitude to the assimilation of Native Indians and assimilation of non-Anglo Saxon immigrants from Europe.
Does pro-assimilation attitude somehow imply that Indians and European immigrants are more “acceptable” than color people (black people, Asian immigrants) to Anglo-Saxon people in America? Otherwise, they should assimilate black people first, and Asians immigrants should not be excluded if they are willing to assimilate to America.
According to Dubois, “double consciousness” is a term used to describe an individual whose identity is divided into several facets. Basically, it is said that the concept of Dubois’ “double consciousness” has three kinds of manifestations:
ReplyDelete1. The power of white stereotypes on black life and thought.
2. The racism that excluded black Americans from the mainstream of society, being American or not American.
3. The internal conflict between being African and American simultaneously.
In my opinion, some illustrations of the above themes can be found in the poems by Dunbar. For example, in the poem “Sympathy,” Dunbar depicts the life of American African as caged birds, indicating that they are like caged birds flying nowhere. I think this topic matches to one of the manifestations of Dubois’ “double consciousness,” which is the third one—the internal conflict between being African and American simultaneously. That is to say, the caged bird wants to fly into the air, but the reality is it can’t possibly achieve its goal for the rest of its life, just like Africans can’t possibly be treated equally even if they think they are Americans and can manage to get the rights they deserve. Similarly, the poem “We Wear the Mask” tends to correspond to another idea of “double consciousness”—white people’s stereotype upon black people by saying that Africans seems to wear a “mask” in order to hide their true soul, pretending to be compromising to social unequal and to guard themselves against human guile.
As for Chesnutt, I think the story “The Wife of his Youth” includes of the above three manifestations of double consciousness. I find this theory interesting in Mr. Ryder’s saying:
“I have no race prejudice, but we people of mixed blood are ground between the upper and the nether millstone. Our fate lies between absorption by the white race and extinction in the black. The one doesn’t want us yet, but may take us in time. The other would welcome us, but it would be for us a backward step. ‘With malice towards none, with charity fir all,’ we must do the best we can for ourselves and those who are to follow us. Self-preservation is the first law of nature.” (top of p.1642)
In addition to stereotypes, racism and internal conflict, double consciousness is also considered an awareness of one's self as well as an awareness of how others perceive that person. That is to say, there might be some dangers of double consciousness residing in conforming or changing one's identity, just like Mr. Ryder’s experience. Therefore, that is why I think the above theory of Mr. Ryder reflects Chesnutt’s thoughts on “double consciousness“related to Dubois’.
p.s. though I have read through some information about the term "double consciousness" and even answer question 109 (with not so much confidence), however, I still think this theory is quite complicated but with abundant meaningful arguements.
ReplyDeleteThis is Tracy to post the question for this week.
ReplyDeleteIn Du Bois’s “The Souls of Black Folk,” there is one sentence as the following: “yet the time is come when one may speak in all sincerity and utter courtesy of the mistakes and shortcomings of Mr. Washington’s career, as well as of his triumphs, without being thought captious or envious, and without forgetting that it is easier to do ill than well in the world.” I want to ask upon what position & social circumstances can Du Bois proclaim that “the time” is come?
This is Ting Ju.
ReplyDeleteI wonder that whether "double consciousness" will still appear without suppression, racism, or discrimination?
I try to understand it as a kind of bewilderment between two cultures. People don't fit in any of the groups, but they were immersed in these two contexts since born. So my question is, will double consciousness also appear on people nowadays, such as ABC?
This is Meg. As I read through Roosevelt and Martí, there are several questions aroused in my mind.
ReplyDeleteBoth Roosevelt and Martí talk about “America,” but I am not sure if their America indicates the same “America.” Does America mean one area for them, or does it mean several different parts of a continent? When both Roosevelt and Martí talk about “being American,” do they ever think about each other’s representative? Is the condition and history context totally different between North America and Latin America? Does the racial diversities simpler in Latin America than in North America?
This is Sydney, answering question 111:
ReplyDeleteBoth music and poetry are commonly recognized as the symbol of the culture, civilization, opposite to barbarism. By using of them, Dubois can show the intellectual ability of Blacks to his readers, especially to the Whites.
Also, since the title of the text is The Souls of Black Folk, music would be a great choice to represent the soul, and the spirit of Negros, because Negros’ ideals, longings (for liberty and equality…etc.) are richly infused in their music.
As for his adoption of these two resources: poetry from famous works of Western literature and music from Black spirituals, I think it on one hand represents what he called “double-consciousness” or “two-ness”, and on the other hand, it shows a wish for the integration of Black and White, American and Negro.
In addition, I think the opening quotation of the poetry might offers some authority for the ideas Du Bois proposes in the following text.
This is Winnie proposing a question.
ReplyDeleteI’m curious about the music and poems quoted in the beginning of each chapter in the Souls of Black Folk. In the third chapter, of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others, the author chooses Byron’s poem and put it with the refrain of a black spiritual. This seems to be a deliberate choice. (To show that in art or intellectual area, superiority/inferiority among races may not exist?) Nevertheless, since only two chapters can be seen here in the Norton Anthology, I’m wondering whether this is the same case in all the other chapters. And do they have any other particular function?
The posts are amazing this week. And they're even on time! I have the perfect answer to Letitia's question... everyone needs to remind me to address that one.
ReplyDeleteThis is Ted for Q.112
ReplyDelete(Whoops!! Seems like I'm the one not on time...:P)
Despite the controversy in Roosevelt's writing, his succeds in promoting the ideology of Americanization, which in fact surpasses every aspect of his contradiction. Roosevelt is a perfect politician in many ways, or as to say, he consist of the many characteristics of being a "salesman."
First of all, regarding the most apparent racism "do not assimilate readily with our own(race)," Roosevelt does show how he somewhat depise those who do not belong to an European race. However, this is the only place in this writing that gives this racism hint. On a rhetorical bases, after he gave this statement, he follows by giving concrete examples of the people he's talking about "criminals, idiots...O'Donovan Rossa type." But look! These examples emphasize on mental & intellectual perspectives, which cannot be accounted for any difference in humankind. Roosevelt is clever in this design because people tend to pay more attention on practical examples rather than on abstract ideas. If not examined by literary people like us, the public may have a large probability of passing over this short sentence. On the other hand, if critics want to take this racism against Roosevelt, they would find it too unsignificant to make a point out of it compared with the many other "positive" encouragement that he's given to "all races." (See last paragraph)
Next, we could say that Rossevelt agrees with the superiority of Europeans, but it's rather difficult to say that Roosevelt is arguing specifically for the Anglo-Saxons. I would rather
say that Roosevelt uses the Anglo-Saxons conquering the Celtics as a metaphor to resemble the on-going American West conquest. In fact, he promotes this process not on a racial view, but "the advance of American civilization." The reason why he refers so much to the Germans and Irish was not because that he cares much more about them, but because the terrorists at that time were Most(German) and O'Donovan Rossa(Irish). If he wanted to accuse Most and O'Donovan Rossa, he needs to give positive examples such as the Dutch President of US Van Buren and Irish-Americans Carroll, Sullivan, Sheridan in order not to infuriate these races. To show the significant difference between "the Good people who's Americanized" and "the Bad people who rejects Americanization" was the only purpose of his writing.
Finally, the defence I'm making for Roosevelt is that "American Ideals" was not written for a racial purpose but preferably to unite the awakening values of being "American." The contradictory views exposed in this writing is nothing but a speck of dust in comparison with the key concept that every man from all races who come to seek a living in America "must learn to talk and think and BE United States." In addition, for the sake of delivering this message to every American, he eventually puts aside his own racial prejudice and says, "We were then already, what we are now, a people of mixed blood." To him, the progress and development of USA's civilization had always been and will always be the first priority of his career. No one of any race would find this writing to be offensive, for it delivers a ideal which every American has ever hoped for, no matter black or white, no matter citizen or non-citizen. So the boundary of race has been erased, and if we want to concentrate on Black rights, this writing is in fact indicating that Blacks may become citizens in the near future. This "American" ideal of Roosevelt's is so important and effective that I even think that Du Bois's "an American" from the "double-consciousness" observation must have been inspired by him.
So what is Roosevelt selling? To BE American of United States of America.
Oh yeah, perhaps the only race that have the right to challenge Roosevelt are the Indians, who are continuously being conquered as the American civilization expands and develops toward the West.
ReplyDeleteThis is Teresa.
ReplyDeleteI’m curious about the response and reaction after the Indians read Roosevelt’s “American Ideals” because he claimed, “Americanism is a question of spirit, conviction, and purpose, not of creed or birthplace.” It means that “birthplace” is not the key point to determine whether a person is American or not. If I were an Indian, I would feel ridiculous.