William Edward Burghardt Du Bois, Dusk of Dawn

Elizabeth Rodrigues (Grinnell College)

Ed. by Patrick Chura, University of Akron
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.5: African American Writing and Culture of the United States.
Vol. editors: Philathia Bolton (University of Akron), Patrick Chura (University of Akron), J. Michael Duvall (College of Charleston), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), A Yemisi Jimoh (University of Massachusetts Amherst), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Tony Papanikolas (San Jose State University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1940

Places

United States (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Autobiography (any)

Resources

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Recommended Reading

Dusk of Dawn: An Essay Toward an Autobiography of a Race Concept

(1940) is W.E.B. Du Bois’s first book-length autobiographical work. In the “Apology” that opens

Dusk

, Du Bois describes it as the third of “three sets of thought centering around the hurts and hesitancies that hem the black man in America” (xxiii). He names the two prior “sets of thought” as

The Souls of Black Folk

(1903) and

Darkwater: Voices From Within the Veil

(1920). These works included autobiographical essays alongside short fiction and essays of political commentary and historical analysis. Du Bois insistently contextualized his life story within historical, political, and cultural frames that exceeded his individual experience. His contextualization of self within external frames creates the effect of…

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2801 words

Citation: Rodrigues, Elizabeth. "Dusk of Dawn". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 07 October 2022 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=5478, accessed 23 April 2024.]

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