- Collection:
- Atlanta University and Clark Atlanta University Theses and Dissertations
- Title:
- Explicating the productivity of W. E. B. Du Bois’s “double consciousness” through existentialism and quantum physics as “Black spaces” in Charles W. Chesnutt’s The House Behind the Cedars, Daniel Black’s Perfect Peace, and Tina McElroy Ansa’s The Hand I Fan With, 2021
- Creator:
- Reuven, Hadrakel E.
- Date of Original:
- 2021-05
- Subject:
- Degrees, Academic
Dissertations, Academic - Location:
- United States, Georgia, Fulton County, Atlanta, 33.749, -84.38798
- Medium:
- born digital
- Type:
- Text
- Format:
- application/pdf
- Description:
- W. E. B. Du Bois’s The Souls of Black Folks (1903) presents the adverse phenomenon in African Americans under White hegemony he called “double consciousness.” The flaw in this split personality is the conviction that the more Eurocentric, the greater one’s chances for socioeconomic mobility and equality in America. However, the strategy never achieves its intended objective of crossing the color line. African Americans remain disenfranchised from the American Dream. Therefore, is there an alternative objective to the condition of “double consciousness?” This study explores the productivity of “double consciousness” through the lens of existentialism and the remedy of quantum physics as “Black spaces” with the protagonists Rena Walden in Charles Chesnutt’s The House Behind the Cedars, Emma Jean Peace in Daniel Black’s Perfect Peace and Lena McPherson in Tina McElroy Ansa’s The Hand I Fan With and other nonfictional works. Rena, Emma Jean, and Lena suffer from their existential “Black spaces” due to their “double consciousness” that obstruct the self-actualizing of their true inner-self with external pursuits. Their lives spiraled out of control due to these misappropriations. However, according to the edicts of quantum theories, the characters can shift from being existentially determined to recreating themselves into authentic selfhood again. Nevertheless, they must be willing to venture into the unknown and the intangible in order to obtain innovative concepts that change them from the inside out. Rena and Lena were willing to execute their essence into the reality of their material lives, when Emma Jean was not. According to Du Bois’s Souls, African Americans can comprise holistic balance and prepare the world for God’s days of reckoning. In this way, they transform the antagonistic experiences of being persecuted in America and use them to become moral Black people and ethical examples for the world. African Americans will understand the significance of unifying their dualling identities and their relationship with the Divine as they reenter the community of humanity. In these ways, African Americans find their voices and venture into alternative options of existing and expressing themselves.
Date of award: 2021-05
Degree type: dissertation
Degree name: Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Granting institution: Clark Atlanta University
Department: Department of Humanities
Advisor: Huguley, Piper - Metadata URL:
- http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12322/cau.td:2021_reuven_hadrakel_e
- Original Collection:
- Atlanta University and Clark Atlanta University Theses and Dissertations
- Holding Institution:
- Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library
- Rights:
