Literary Eras Of Standing Double Consciousness

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

My intent is to prove that double consciousness is more than just a theory; it is a reality within black communities. This reality is a constant theme in the literature African Americans create, as well as the music and art they use to express their cultural differences. Double consciousness will continue to be a part of black expression as long as it continues to convey the identity issues that black people deal with on a daily basis. Once black people lose their connection to the feelings associated with double consciousness it will become less and less prevalent in their forms of self-expression. Literature, Music, and Art are the windows into any culture; the collective art forms of black people are so unique they are able to solidify a black culture. In other words in order for something to be a part of black culture it must be represented in black literature, music, art or all three, and furthermore it must be present in black expression over a distinct amount of time.

The first step in recognizing the prevalence of double consciousness would be to understand what it meant to W.E.B Du Bois in 1903 when he penned The Souls of Black Folk, and what it has continued to suggest about black people over the years. In Souls Du Bois describes double consciousness as a peculiar sensation, he goes on to explain how it is a "sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others, of measuring one’s soul by the tape of world that looks on in amused contempt and pity"(Du Bois 694). The veil is simply how society’s views of black people are all consuming and how black people must come to realize this projection.

The Reconstruction Era was one of great significance for black people; it gave newly freed slaves a false sense of hope and freedom while they were dealing with new forms of discrimination and oppressions. However, for the first time many blacks were given access to formal education which encouraged them to express themselves in new ways. The literature of this time period was distinctly hopeful, men and woman wrote about how overcoming the obstacles of slavery had made them well equipped to overcome the discrimination they would face in a new freed world.

While some literature was meant to inspire most literature published during this time was meant to correct the historical perceptions that blacks were not an intellectual or creative group of people. Du Bois was most successful in his effort to prove that black writers during this time were intellectually progressive and because of this deserved respect from their white counterparts. In Souls Du Bois attributes the problem of the twentieth century to being a problem of the color-line, he goes on to say "the Negro is a sort of seventh son, born with a veil, and gifted with second-sight in the American world,- a world which yields him no true self-consciousness"(Du Bois 694). When Du Bois speaks of the veil he refers to it as the ultimate reason as to why Black Americans have never been able to enjoy the opportunities and benefits of a normal American life, because to be American is to be white.

While not everyone agreed with Du Bois’ thoughts on the veil, other prominent artists during this time did often confirm that a veil in fact existed. Paul Laurence Dunbar acknowledged the veil in his poem "We Wear the Mask" which was published in 1896 seven years prior to Du Bois’ The Souls of Black Folk, this coincides with my argument that double consciousness is a valid part of black culture and has been for quite some time (Paul 905). In Dunbar’s poem he encourages black people to continue to wear the mask so that black identity may remain in the hands and control of black people. This view is different from Du Bois who believes that the veil can be detrimental to person’s sense of self identity; he believes black people should not have to live under the stereotypes placed on them by white people.

Booker T. Washington was another person with very different views from Du Bois but never denied the existence of a veil. Du Bois and Washington were such advocates of opposing ideals that in The Souls of Black Folk, Du Bois had an essay just for Washington and the people who thought similar to him. Washington would rather use the veil to his advantage, instead of trying to eliminate the veil he plays into the ideals that white people have of black people. Washington and Dunbar are prime examples of how there isn’t just one way to view how racism, stereotypes, and discrimination affect a person’s sense of self identity and self-worth. Most black people have an opinion of double consciousness that is deeply rooted in their individual interactions with the veil.

While the Reconstruction Era allowed black leaders to fully thrive in their efforts to influence, inspire, and inflict social change, the Harlem Renaissance was a seminal time for black artists to wholly express themselves. The Harlem Renaissance was a result of many things simultaneously happening in America. African Americans migrated north to escape the poverty and racial tensions of the south that came to a head during the "Red Summer" of 1919. World War 1 and the emergence of new political options fueled a cultural awakening of African Americans that resulted in a new bolder, more expressive, prouder race of people. During the Harlem Renaissance the "New Negro" celebrated black pride and creativity, thus establishing black people as intellectuals and artists.

Langston Hughes was one of the central figures of the Harlem Renaissance, being unapologetic and proud of his blackness was part of his technique to uplift the black race. In "The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain" Hughes recounts a time when a young black poet said to him "I want to be a poet-not a Negro poet". Hughes equated the words of that young poet to mean that he would like to be a white poet and because of this wanted to be white. Hughes recognized the consciousness of the young artist, and how he was struggling with this notion of being black and a poet, realizing that the young man had been conditioned to view blacks and whites in a certain way and he was being taught to be ashamed of his blackness. After using the article to praise the black artist of the time, Hughes ends it with a call of action for other young artists, encouraging them to go out and "express our individual dark-skinned selves without fear or shame. If white people are pleased we are glad. If they are not, it doesn’t matter. We know we are beautiful. And ugly too." (Langston 1314). Hughes also confirms double consciousness in his poetry, one particular piece being "The Weary Blues". While the poem was meant to emulate and celebrate the blues, Hughes managed to skillfully use the blues template which is a part of authentic black culture form with an American literary form. "The Weary Blues" is a demonstration of the African American consciousness during the Harlem Renaissance; it was appealing to blacks with a simultaneous acceptance by white Americans (Shaduri 97).

Richard Wright similar to many African American writers of his time wrote about black identity and the struggles they witnessed in association with assimilation. While writing Native Son, Wright recalls how moving to Chicago impacted his writing. "It was as though I had put on a pair of spectacles whose power was that of an x-ray enabling me to see deep into the lives of men".

As an urban realism writer, the "realism is taken broadly to refer to a faithful reproduction or illusion of material reality" (Realism 1356). Because Wright wrote solely about the realities of urban black America, his novels can be used to prove the prevalence of double consciousness within black communities. According to Wright’s novels, the veil becomes noticeable when blacks try to integrate into white society, this desire to integrate is usually the result of a quest of self-hood and self-fulfillment. When the people in Wright’s novels strive for a better life they encounter the first hand effects of racism and living in a society that wants nothing to do with you. This makes the characters fully aware of the differences between the life they are forced to live and they want to live, the life their white counterparts possess. In Native Son arguably one of Wright’s most famous novels, the main character Bigger goes through a period of realization while trying to cover up a murder, during this time he uses the racist thought process of others to his advantage. Bigger manipulates the racial stereotypes of black people as a way to discourage the people suspicious of him from thinking that he is capable of committing such elaborate crimes. Wright puts a spin on the reality of double consciousness, as his characters become self-aware their first response is one of violence and rebellion as opposed to the expected reactions of disappointment and grief.

Women are not exempted from the veil and double consciousness that continues to affect the lives of black people. Audre Lorde was well aware of her complicated identity, she later referred to it as her "consciousness as a woman, a black lesbian feminist mother lover poet all I am" (Audre 1919). Lorde not only acknowledged the veil in her life, she echoes the presence of double consciousness in her poems and writings. In "Eye to Eye: Black Women, Hatred, and Anger" Lorde shares stories about herself to explain what it is like to have black skin in a world dominated by whiteness. Lorde "emphasizes the direct, causal relationship between racism and internalized racism. And she expresses her grief at what she considers to be one of the worst consequences of racism, black women’s estrangement from each other". Lorde’s purpose for writing this particular essay was to "convey the devastating effects of racism on self-esteem" (Morris 169). In her poem "Coal" she compares the oppressiveness of the veil to the pressure essential for diamonds, to her the pressure allows her to become a diamond and embrace her identity as a black woman.

Lorde was an artist made popular through the Black Arts Movement that came out of the unsettled 1960s. During this time social issues were widespread in America as well as abroad; there was the Civil Rights Movement in the states and a violent war being fought in Vietnam. These evolving conflicts powered a resurgence of expression similar to the Harlem Renaissance, with more of a focus on social revolution. African American writers during this time were encouraged to write literature that applauded blackness, and oneness with Africa.

Towards the end of the Black Arts Movement, African American literature was accepted as an authentic genre of American literature, scholars began to study and define the writings of black people. Black writers continue to prove themselves to be skilled writers by achieving best sellers and award winning status. What makes the literature produced after 1975 so unique is not just that it gives a new narrative of black life in America, aside from slavery and internalized racism, but the fact that for the first time black writers are able to effortlessly cross over into other genres of literature (Roach).

One writer who was able to achieve much success and gain notoriety for his craft despite it being outside the traditional scope of African American literature was Walter Mosley. Mosley was able to expand his writing beyond narrative novels to include crime fiction, science fiction, erotica, graphic novels and political nonfiction books. Mosley is a representation of all the black authors who are able to transcend the title of African American writer. While Mosley considers himself to be an American novelist, his novels of different genres are all used as political vehicles to highlight the key issues that deteriorate African American communities (Smith). The underlying political messages of Mosley’s novels are widespread and the connections made to current events are often subtle, in Mosley's protagonists "we can see a literary politics of sameness and difference at work" (English 782). In Helen Lock’s Invisible Detection: The Case of Walter Moseley she highlights the use of double consciousness in Mosley’s novels. Lock describes Mosley’s detective novels as an "African American experience of double-consciousness, especially in the urban America of the period" (Lock 78). I feel this completes my argument nicely; even black writers of today who have ventured out of the traditional black writing sphere refuse to ignore the veil and effects of double consciousness.

As African Americans’ place in America has changed over the years so has the essence of African American literature. Du Bois argued that the veil of double consciousness was harmful to black identities while Dunbar and Washington saw it in a more advantageous light. Lorde showed the world that a person can possess more than one type of double consciousness. Wright and Mosley prove that there are no limitations to how a person will perceive and act upon the effects of the veil. Despite the literary era they come from, the discrimination they experienced as an African American, and the way they chose to express themselves through literature all of these artists recognize the veil that covers them as individuals, as well as the veil that covers all of black America.