History of Double Consciousness: Mourning, Melancholia, and Anxiety

In this seminar we will investigate the intellectual history of the idea of double consciousness—first developed by W.E.B. Du Bois. We will read critical race and feminist theory alongside psychoanalytic theory to analyze the psyche as the battleground not only for racial formation but also for sexual and gender identities. Each of these identities produces double consciousness that manifests as mourning, melancholia, or anxiety. We will explore their historical productions, interpretations, and misinterpretations in theory and literature. Authors may include Judith Butler, Frantz Fanon, Paul Gilroy, Saidiya Hartmann, bell hooks, Melanie Klein, Hortense Spillers, Gayatri Spivak, and Claudia Tate. 3 hrs. sem.