Du Bois, W. E. B.

During a career that spanned much of the twentieth century, W. E. B. Du Bois wrote in nearly every genre while aiming each of his varied texts at solving the vast social problem he identified in 1900: “The problem of the twentieth century,” he said, “is the problem of the color line.” Taken as a whole, Du Bois's 22 monographs, countless essays, and multiple editorial and collaborative projects outline the major questions, methods, and debates that continue to comprise black cultural history and theory. Du Bois researched and represented African and African American experiences within international frames; investigated the material and psychological causes and effects of racism; reflected - and, at times, upheld - gender and class divisions; and traversed the lines between social theory and practice. He interrogated the boundaries between science and art, employed textual and musical modes of communication, and sought, especially by way of education and intellectual work, justice and redress for people of color worldwide. Du Bois's description of “double-consciousness,” a condition of and response to racist society, is central to twentieth-century literary history even as it continues to shape psychological and sociological studies of race.