Pan-Africa as a Myth in the Literary Work of DuBois

Abstract

DuBois’s meandering career, his long life (1868–1963), and his lively temperament which may well be responsible for a number of ambiguities in his world of ideas have stood in the way of an unequivocal critical assessment of him.¹ The often conflicting means and devices which he used to pursue his aims are confusing, unless one simply sees him as an ‘opportunist’.² But the ‘Paradox of W. E. B. DuBois’³ can perhaps be solved by attempting to discover the underlying impulse on which his restless search for new ways is based. Such an approach shows that there is continuity in DuBois’s life, namely in his faithful adherence to ideas which he formed in his youth back in the nineteenth century. These ideas and concepts revolve around his interest in the cultural progress of the ‘black race’ and in Africa: ‘On it he centred some of his most personal and some of his largest dreams.’⁴ His greatness, but ultimately his failure as well, are based on his strongly emotional attachment to these two concepts. There can be no doubt that his achievement is imposing; through his writings and his actions he was an indefatigable defender of the emancipation of Black Americans and Africans. He influenced black attitudes more than any other Afro-American leader and contributed to the formation of a ‘black consciousness’.