The Public Intellectualism of Ralph Waldo Emerson and W.E.B. Du Bois : Emotional Dimensions of Race and Reform

In the first in-depth study of the emotional dimensions of Du Bois's and Emerson's writings on public intellectualism, reform, and race, Schneider offers a valuable and eloquent contribution to the critical tradition. In The Public Intellectualism of Ralph Waldo Emerson and W.E.B. Du Bois, Ryan Schneider shows how and why two of America's most influential public intellectuals - writing from opposite sides of the color line - defined race not only in biological and geo-cultural terms but also as an emotional phenomenon. Drawing on and advancing recent work in Cognitive Literary Studies, Critical Race Theory, and the History of Emotions, Schneider comparatively examines the range of feelings Emerson and Du Bois attribute to the experience of racial difference; his innovative close readings reveal the surprisi Front Matter....Pages i-xi Introduction The Province of Public Intellectualism: Emerson, Du Bois, Emotion, and Reform Writing....Pages 1-21 Race: You’ll Know It When You Feel It....Pages 23-48 Double Consciousness: It’s More Than What You Think....Pages 49-69 Losing Your Head: Why Du Bois and Emerson (Mostly) Like John Brown....Pages 71-91 Intimate Attachments: Fathers, Sons, and Public Intellectuals....Pages 93-119 Conclusion Theory of Mind and the Color Line....Pages 121-142 Back Matter....Pages 143-183