In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

GAVIN JONE S "WHOSE LIN E I S I T ANYWAY? " W. E . B . D U BOI S AN D TH E LANGUAG E OF TH E COLOR-LIN E Between th e en d o f th e America n Civi l Wa r an d th e beginnin g o f th e twentieth century , th e understandin g o f blac k languag e becam e a fundamenta l part o f debates concernin g bot h th e subjectivit y o f African American s an d thei r cultural influenc e o n th e American Sout h an d th e American natio n i n general . As w e hea d int o a ne w centur y thes e sam e concerns , i n a transfigure d form , remain centra l t o th e fields o f American an d African-America n Studies . Recen t works b y Eri c Sundquist , Shelle y Fishkin , Eri c Lott , an d Michae l Nort h hav e focused o n th e languag e o f America n cultur e whil e pursuin g th e Ellisonia n project o f demonstratin g th e interrelatednes s o f blacknes s an d whitenes s i n th e United States. 1 B y showin g ho w attempt s t o suppres s Africa n Americ a wer e undercut b y a cross-racial exchang e o f energies tha t provided—i n th e words o f 2 GAVIN JONE S Eric Lott—" a channe l fo r th e blac k cultura l 'contamination ' o f th e dominan t culture" (6-7), eac h o f thes e work s describe s Americ a a s a "creolized " natio n formed b y th e amalgamatio n o f blac k an d whit e ethni c traditions . I t i s i n th e context o f suc h inquirie s int o cross-cultura l exchang e an d th e rol e o f languag e within i t tha t I conside r W . E . B . Du Bois' s The Souls of Black Folk (1903). I n order t o she d ne w ligh t o n a much-discussed work , I relat e Souls to post-Civi l War debate s over language and th e color-line, debates tha t frequentl y use d idea s about speec h a s keys t o understandin g blac k culture , an d tha t use d thes e idea s to strengthe n o r attac k th e cas e fo r racia l differenc e an d socia l segregation . B y focusing o n th e argument s ove r blac k languag e an d cultur e t o whic h Souls was to som e exten t a response , w e ar e abl e t o reevaluat e D u Bois' s rhetorica l strategies an d understan d ho w th e notio n o f "double-consciousness"—s o ofte n cited a s th e archetypa l threa t t o blac k selfhood—wa s equall y problemati c fo r the white community whose color-lines were supposedly its cause. SPEECH A S A MODE L O F CULTURA L INTERACTION : BLAC K LANGUAGE A S TH E WHIT E M A N ' S PROBLE M The "funny " languag e o f th e Gullah-speakin g Se a Islander s o f th e Carolinas , referred t o by Du Boi s in his chapter "Th e Sorro w Songs,"2 was at the center o f white interpretation s o f Southern blac k speec h immediatel y afte r th e Civi l War . William Franci s Allen's introductio n t o Slave Songs of the United States (1867),3 a landmar k even t i n th e forma l recognitio n o f th e musica l "creativ e power " o f African-American communities , establishe d th e fundamenta l tension s tha t would ech o throughou t subsequen t account s o f the blac k vernacular. Th e mai n problem fo r white observers, especially those from th e North lik e Allen, was th e essential differenc e o f thi s particula r variet y...

Share