Double-Consciousness/Double Bind: Theoretical Issues in Twentieth-Century Black Literature - Hardcover

Adell, Sandra

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0252021096 ISBN 13: 9780252021091

Publisher: University of Illinois Press, 1994

Synopsis

"'It is a peculiar sensation, this double consciousness, this sense of always looking at one's self through the eyes of others.' For Adell, W. E. B. Du Bois's famous articulation of the 'twoness' of black Americans is the key to understanding the 'double bind' which afflicts contemporary African-American literary theory. . . . [The book] demands and deserves recognition as a cogent intervention." -- Yearbook of English Studies  

About this title

From the Back Cover

In this provocative study of major twentieth century African-American writers and critics, Sandra Adell takes an unprecedented look at the relationship between black literature and criticism and the complex ensemble of Western literature, criticism, and philosophy. Adell's investigation begins with an analysis of the metaphysical foundations of W. E. B. Du Bois's famous formulation of double-consciousness and how black writing bears the traces of such European philosophers as Kant, Hegel, and Marx. She then examines, in the double context of black literature and European philosophy, the writings of such major authors and essayists as Richard Wright, Leopold Senghor, Maya Angelou, Houston A. Baker, Jr., and Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Adell gives a thoughtful analysis of the "double bind" created by conflicting claims of Euro- and Afrocentrism in black literature.

About the Author

Sandra Adell is a literature professor in the department of Afro-American studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the author of "Double-Consciousness/Double Bind," She lives in Madison, Wisconsin.

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Illinois Press
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 0252021096
• ISBN 13: 9780252021091
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 184