Du Bois's idea
First used in 1897 and developed in 1903, it describes a veil separating Black and white worlds; it resembles the looking-glass self but with a racialised gaze.
Sources and meaning
Bruce (1992) traced roots in psychology and transcendentalism. It also implies a 'second sight', relevant to stereotype threat and social identity research.
Extensions
Gilroy (1993) extended it to the Black Atlantic; Morris (2015) and Itzigsohn and Brown (2015, 2020) re-centred Du Bois in sociological theory.
FAQ
- What is it in simple terms?
- Always seeing yourself through a prejudiced society's eyes, split between two identities.
- Is it only negative?
- No, it also implies a special insight into two worlds.
Sources reviewed: 2026-10-26
References
- Du Bois, W. E. B. (1897). Strivings of the Negro people. Atlantic Monthly, 80, 194–198. First appearance of the term.
- Du Bois, W. E. B. (1903). The souls of Black folk. A. C. McClurg. The classic text.
- Bruce, D. D., Jr. (1992). W. E. B. Du Bois and the idea of double consciousness. American Literature, 64(2), 299–309. Intellectual sources.
- Gilroy, P. (1993). The Black Atlantic: Modernity and double consciousness. Harvard University Press. Diaspora extension.
- Itzigsohn, J., & Brown, K. (2015). Sociology and the theory of double consciousness: W. E. B. Du Bois's phenomenology of racialized subjectivity. Du Bois Review, 12(2), 231–248. Sociological reading.
- Morris, A. D. (2015). The scholar denied: W. E. B. Du Bois and the birth of modern sociology. University of California Press. Du Bois in sociology.
- Itzigsohn, J., & Brown, K. L. (2020). The sociology of W. E. B. Du Bois: Racialized modernity and the global color line. New York University Press. Synthesis of Du Bois.