<p>The aim of the study is to investigate how double-consciousness operates through contrastive color imagery in Nella Larsen’s novel Quicksand. A focal point of the analysis is to show how Larsen thematizes the ability to benefit from bright colors and how color choice determines the quality and level of freedom in life.</p><p>Together with W. E. B. Du Bois’s theory of double-consciousness, a few other literary works by writers of the Harlem Renaissance have been considered in order to further support my arguments. I link these other writers’ perspectives to Quicksand and to the novel’s theme of color as a path to freedom.</p><p>In Quicksand, a broader path of colors, more bright than dull, leads to freedom, as is made evident through the novel’s connection of bright colors with Harlem’s freedom of expression. Furthermore, a narrow path of colors is contrastively figured as the course towards tragedy, which is clearly seen in the novel through the example of the protagonist Helga’s “sinking” due to an absence of color.</p>

The Black experience is complex; often portrayed as a double consciousness or a tension between two warring ideas that penetrate the soul. Such duplicity can leave Black people perplexed regarding how to navigate in a White world with one dark body. This study explored the experiences of Black males in an urban teacher preparation program as they negotiated their double consciousness in order to understand how race and gender impact teaching and learning in urban schools. Four case studies were conducted representing self-identified Black male graduates who were part of a cohort of pre-service teachers. Data generated from coursework were used as a heuristic for introspective analysis by each participant and complemented by semi-structured interviews. The study illustrates the complex factors for Black males developing as culturally relevant responsive teachers and provides voice to the challenges Black males face while navigating in a capitalistic system that has historically denied equitable access. The research found that prior experiences with double consciousness perpetuate Black males’ oppression and forces them to see their perceived selves through their White counterparts’ and supervisors’ eyes. Double consciousness has a twoness that causes distrustfulness of those that are perceived to be oppressive while also inspires individuals to ‘be the best’. Cohort communities are a great way to facilitate a community of learners but if not managed carefully can lead to racial and ethnic separation. After graduating from the teacher preparation program, the Black males did not remain consistent with their cultural responsiveness but were charged to use the teaching profession as a means to create positive change for others. Findings from this study hold promise for helping teacher education programs develop experiences for Black males that capture and cultivate the unique embodiment of two clashing identities—American and Black.

This essay is a study of the character Pilate in Toni Morrison’s novel Song of Solomon. It employs a postcolonial theoretical perspective in order to explore the cultural trauma that Pilate experiences in the aftermath of slavery. Furthermore, it analyses the impact of that trauma on the formation of Pilate’s own cultural identity. When defining cultural trauma and cultural identity, the works of Edward Said, Homi Bhabha and Frantz Fanon are used. In this discussion, terms such as "double consciousness", "unhomeliness" and the "Other" are employed as a theoretical background to the analysis. Pilate’s trauma consists of being an orphan. Moreover, she is rejected as "Other" both by her brother as well as by each society that she settles into. Although suffering from this trauma and being all alone in the world, Pilate manages to both affirm her cultural heritage as well as to use it in a positive way when dealing with the trauma and creating her own cultural identity. In her case, she is able to stay close to her roots and to avoid the feeling of double-consciousness and unhomeliness. Instead she has a solid foundation in her ancestral past and the cultural identity it represents.

Esta tese de doutorado tem como objetivo central discutir a situação de pessoas que se encontram em trânsito, desterritorializadas, vivendo intensos deslocamentos e que, por meio de relatos literários ou das novas narrativas digitais nas redes sociais, exteriorizaram um sentimento de duplicidade, denominado dupla consciência. Nesse sentido, o contraponto é a autobiografia do escritor chileno-americano Ariel Dorfman, escolhida como o referencial literário e comparada às narrativas produzidas em blogs ou, mais especificamente, na interface do Facebook, uma rede social que estimula relacionamentos virtuais e trocas de informações simultâneas. Outros escritores biculturais, que explicitaram sua biculturalidade e, consequentemente, sua dupla consciência, também foram contemplados no trabalho, tais como Todorov, Gloria Anzaldúa e Garcilaso de La Vega. Para tanto, além de uma revisão bibliográfica, contextualizando uma sociedade em movimento, cada vez mais desterritorializada, fluida, hipermoderna, que sofreu impactos em sua dinâmica interna, foi realizada também uma observação participante em alguns perfis no Facebook e em determinados posts, comentários que denotavam o sentimento de dupla consciência e outras manifestações sobre um estado de duplicidade interior. As narrativas propostas pelos escritores foram comparadas às novas narrativas produzidas em ambientes digitais. Se, antes, a literatura e a imprensa caracterizavam-se como meios de produção e propagação do discurso sobre dilemas culturais em razão de deslocamentos constantes, atualmente, as redes sociais somaram-se a esses meios e estão à disposição do cidadão comum, que pode ter sua cultura de origem, seus parentes e amigos aproximados no ciberespaço / The main objective of the present PhD thesis is to discuss the condition of people who have been in transit, deterritorialized, living intense displacements and have externalized a feeling of duplicity, known as double consciousness, through literary accounts or through the new digital narratives on the social networks. In this sense, the counterpoint is the autobiography by Ariel Dorfman, a Chilean American writer, whose writings were singled out as the literary reference, and were also compared to the narratives found in blogs or, more specifically, in the interface of the Facebook, a social network that encourages virtual relationships and simultaneous exchange of information. Other bicultural writers, who have expressed their biculturality and, consequently, their double consciousness, were contemplated as well. In order to achieve our goal, we conducted a through literature review, contextualizing a society in movement. Such society has been more deterritorialized, fluid, hypermodern, and has undergone impacts in its internal dynamics. Moreover, it was conducted a participant observation in some profiles in the Facebook. The selected comments and posts denoted the feeling of double consciousness and other manifestations on an internal duplicity state of mind. The narratives proposed by the selected authors were compared to the new narratives produced in digital environments. Earlier in time, both literature and the press were characterized as means of production and transmission of the discourse on cultural dilemmas in view of the constant displacements. However, nowadays, the social networks have been added to those means and have been at hand for the common citizen, who can have his/her culture of origin, his/her relatives and friends at a close range in the cyberspace

Esta tese de doutorado tem como objetivo central discutir a situação de pessoas que se encontram em trânsito, desterritorializadas, vivendo intensos deslocamentos e que, por meio de relatos literários ou das novas narrativas digitais nas redes sociais, exteriorizaram um sentimento de duplicidade, denominado dupla consciência. Nesse sentido, o contraponto é a autobiografia do escritor chileno-americano Ariel Dorfman, escolhida como o referencial literário e comparada às narrativas produzidas em blogs ou, mais especificamente, na interface do Facebook, uma rede social que estimula relacionamentos virtuais e trocas de informações simultâneas. Outros escritores biculturais, que explicitaram sua biculturalidade e, consequentemente, sua dupla consciência, também foram contemplados no trabalho, tais como Todorov, Gloria Anzaldúa e Garcilaso de La Vega. Para tanto, além de uma revisão bibliográfica, contextualizando uma sociedade em movimento, cada vez mais desterritorializada, fluida, hipermoderna, que sofreu impactos em sua dinâmica interna, foi realizada também uma observação participante em alguns perfis no Facebook e em determinados posts, comentários que denotavam o sentimento de dupla consciência e outras manifestações sobre um estado de duplicidade interior. As narrativas propostas pelos escritores foram comparadas às novas narrativas produzidas em ambientes digitais. Se, antes, a literatura e a imprensa caracterizavam-se como meios de produção e propagação do discurso sobre dilemas culturais em razão de deslocamentos constantes, atualmente, as redes sociais somaram-se a esses meios e estão à disposição do cidadão comum, que pode ter sua cultura de origem, seus parentes e amigos aproximados no ciberespaço / The main objective of the present PhD thesis is to discuss the condition of people who have been in transit, deterritorialized, living intense displacements and have externalized a feeling of duplicity, known as double consciousness, through literary accounts or through the new digital narratives on the social networks. In this sense, the counterpoint is the autobiography by Ariel Dorfman, a Chilean American writer, whose writings were singled out as the literary reference, and were also compared to the narratives found in blogs or, more specifically, in the interface of the Facebook, a social network that encourages virtual relationships and simultaneous exchange of information. Other bicultural writers, who have expressed their biculturality and, consequently, their double consciousness, were contemplated as well. In order to achieve our goal, we conducted a through literature review, contextualizing a society in movement. Such society has been more deterritorialized, fluid, hypermodern, and has undergone impacts in its internal dynamics. Moreover, it was conducted a participant observation in some profiles in the Facebook. The selected comments and posts denoted the feeling of double consciousness and other manifestations on an internal duplicity state of mind. The narratives proposed by the selected authors were compared to the new narratives produced in digital environments. Earlier in time, both literature and the press were characterized as means of production and transmission of the discourse on cultural dilemmas in view of the constant displacements. However, nowadays, the social networks have been added to those means and have been at hand for the common citizen, who can have his/her culture of origin, his/her relatives and friends at a close range in the cyberspace

The aim of the study is to investigate how double-consciousness operates through contrastive color imagery in Nella Larsen’s novel Quicksand. A focal point of the analysis is to show how Larsen thematizes the ability to benefit from bright colors and how color choice determines the quality and level of freedom in life. Together with W. E. B. Du Bois’s theory of double-consciousness, a few other literary works by writers of the Harlem Renaissance have been considered in order to further support my arguments. I link these other writers’ perspectives to Quicksand and to the novel’s theme of color as a path to freedom. In Quicksand, a broader path of colors, more bright than dull, leads to freedom, as is made evident through the novel’s connection of bright colors with Harlem’s freedom of expression. Furthermore, a narrow path of colors is contrastively figured as the course towards tragedy, which is clearly seen in the novel through the example of the protagonist Helga’s “sinking” due to an absence of color.

This essay explores early twentieth century African American literature to investigate issues related to identity formation. It uses W.E.B. Du Bois’s The Souls of Black Folk and Frantz Fanon’s Black Skin, White Masks to introduce and define the socio-psychological concept of the moment of knowing, an original component of this work. The concept is composed of two occurrences: alienation and self-alienation, which can be observed and examined in nonictional and fictional texts. Within the framework of multicultural theory, the moment of knowing along with double-consciousness are explored in a close reading of Nella Larsen’s 1929 novel Passing. In conclusion, the moment of knowing is shown to be a significant part of African American identity formation, and the central characters in Larsen’s work are revealed as psychologically and socially scarred as a result of their inability to cope with their African American identity.

The purpose of this dissertation was to elucidate my lived experiences as an HBCU band director as I navigated through tensions within HBCU culture, between HBCU culture and the dominant culture, and issues of inequality, and access. I chronicle my early life and influences to bring clarity and meaning to the choices and decisions made as I transitioned to becoming an HBCU student and then band director at an early age. It was my intention to use autoethnographic self-examination and personal narrative to make transparent racial inequality as it: (a) impacts the academic and musical quality of HBCU band programs, (b) raises questions regarding access to resources, and (c) elicits larger and more complex questions related to race and culture. In addition to a thorough review of my personal recollections and historical artifacts, I also sought to interview as many people as possible that had impacted me, my life, and HBCU bands in order to check my memory and perspectives. As the word got out about my project, hundreds in the HBCU community reached out wanting to participate. Of the eighty-seven persons that agreed to an interview, I was able to interview fifty-two. I analyzed my story through the framework of "Double-Consciousness Theory" as articulated by W. E. B. Du Bois, specifically through the concepts of the veil, the color line, and twoness. The guiding question for my inquiry was: Why is the musicianship of HBCU bands praised by one culture and viewed in a mostly deficit view in another, and how did an HBCU band director navigate these tensions to lead two successful programs? The findings demonstrate that there are multiple and conflicting expectations and perceptions of HBCU band programs. By considering HBCU bands through my own experience of double-consciousness it was possible to amplify the voices of marginalized groups and provide more nuanced understandings to those who have a one-dimensional view of such band programs.

The purpose of this essay is to explore how the interplay between gender and double consciousness is used as a rhetorical device in Harriet Jacobs’ autobiographical narrative “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl” (1861). Through a feminist theoretical lens and the concept of double consciousness I provide examples from the text illustrating Jacobs’ strategic use of different narrative techniques to convey her abolitionist message.Formulärets överkant The analysis delve into the intricate dual identities that Jacobs’ struggles with as an enslaved woman lacking autonomy, while simultaneously trying to live up to society’s expectation of a “good” woman in the antebellum South. The gendered version of double consciousness works persuasively and highlights her complex situation. By portraying the challenges of an oppressed woman striving to meet societal ideals, Jacobs encourages her readers to support the abolitionist cause.

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