The Intertextuality of Du Bois's Idea of Humanity: A Collation Analysis
Presentation by Dr. Robert W. Williams, Political Science, Bennett College, at the
30th Symposium on African American Culture & Philosophy,
convened by the African American Studies & Research Center,
at Purdue University, on 2 December 2016.
(Note: This is a DRAFT version, with later clarifications.)
• To continue, click "NEXT" in the footer or press the letter "N" key •
The Intertextuality of Du Bois's Idea of Humanity: A Collation Analysis
Presentation by Dr. Robert W. Williams, Political Science, Bennett College, at the
30th Symposium on African American Culture & Philosophy,
convened by the African American Studies & Research Center,
at Purdue University, on 2 December 2016.
(Note: This is a DRAFT version, with later clarifications.)
0.1. Abstract: "The Intertextuality of Du Bois's Idea of Humanity: A Collation Analysis"
How might the texts of W.E.B. Du Bois help us to better understand the "humanity" in the digital humanities? I address this question by examining, via collation software, how Du Bois expressed his idea of humanity across several, intertextually related works.
The digital humanities (DH) involve the use of computational approaches in the study of human artifacts and events. Such approaches range from employing computer programs that assist in the close(r) reading of texts and art works to the algorithmic techniques of distant reading and other methods which quantify the works into data that are displayed as points in aggregations of works. Amidst the increasing prominence of DH, critics challenge this interdisciplinary field on various grounds. One challenge focuses on the reductivistic dimensions of DH's quantitative techniques and data visualizations. Such dimensions, the critics charge, threaten to supplant or at least undermine more traditional approaches that are conditioned upon the unique and irreducible facets of individual human experiences and the creative role of human agency — all of which are part of humanity's works and activities.
In this presentation I will examine how, by studying the intertextuality of one author's works via collation analysis, we can document the human-agentic aspects of concept creation. This will highlight and thereby reinforce the significant authorial role in creating and subsequently modifying concepts across several works.
Using Juxta collation software I compare two sets of texts by Du Bois: (a) the "Disfranchisement" pamphlet (ca. 1912) and "Of the Ruling of Men" (Ch. VI in Darkwater, 1920); and (b) "The Souls of White Folk" in its two versions (as a magazine essay published in The Independent, 1910, and as Ch. II in Darkwater, 1920).
I utilize a type of intertextuality known as intra-authorial intertextuality, but which can be shortened to auto-intertextuality. Auto-intertextuality diverges from the literary-critical concept of intertextuality. The latter tends to diminish the author's role in creating meaning, because the author cannot control the range of meanings that readers will generate from any given work in relation to other works.
By examining the similarities and differences between the two pairs of Du Boisian works we can spotlight how Du Bois modified his idea of humanity — specifically, by expanding its analytical, practical, and geo-historical scope in the aftermath of World War I. As a consequence, the auto-intertextuality of Du Bois's idea of humanity illustrates the role that authors occupy in providing the conditions for the readers also to make meanings from the works themselves.
♦—♦♦♦—♦
The main PRESENTATION BEGINS after proceeding through the following pages of the front matter: •Navigating the Hypertext Presentation (Help Page) •Online Availability of Texts [and access to the one-page version] •Acknowledgments •Dr. Robert W. Williams: Who I Am •Sub/Section Outline of the Presentation
Note 1: I consider the content of this presentation, which also includes subsequent clarifications, to be a draft version. Herein, I explore ideas and lines of interpretation that may change in a future, more finalized form. Indeed, some aspects of the text may require further elaboration. Thank you.
Note 2: I designed this hypertext-oriented presentation and coded it. I may modify or augment the functionality and appearance of the interface over time and without notice. The Navigation Help page (0.2.) contains details on the interface's features, but does not indicate what may have been added or changed. Thank you for understanding that this is a work in progress.
— Robert W. Williams
• To continue, click "NEXT" or press the letter "N" key •
0.1. Abstract
How might the texts of W.E.B. Du Bois help us to better understand the "humanity" in the digital humanities? I address this question by examining, via collation software, how Du Bois expressed his idea of humanity across several, intertextually related works.
The digital humanities (DH) involve the use of computational approaches in the study of human artifacts and events. Such approaches range from employing computer programs that assist in the close(r) reading of texts and art works to the algorithmic techniques of distant reading and other methods which quantify the works into data that are displayed as points in aggregations of works. Amidst the increasing prominence of DH, critics challenge this interdisciplinary field on various grounds. One challenge focuses on the reductivistic dimensions of DH's quantitative techniques and data visualizations. Such dimensions, the critics charge, threaten to supplant or at least undermine more traditional approaches that are conditioned upon the unique and irreducible facets of individual human experiences and the creative role of human agency — all of which are part of humanity's works and activities.
In this presentation I will examine how, by studying the intertextuality of one author's works via collation analysis, we can document the human-agentic aspects of concept creation. This will highlight and thereby reinforce the significant authorial role in creating and subsequently modifying concepts across several works.
Using Juxta collation software I compare two sets of texts by Du Bois: (a) the "Disfranchisement" pamphlet (ca. 1912) and "Of the Ruling of Men" (Ch. VI in Darkwater, 1920); and (b) "The Souls of White Folk" in its two versions (as a magazine essay published in The Independent, 1910, and as Ch. II in Darkwater, 1920).
I utilize a type of intertextuality known as intra-authorial intertextuality, but which can be shortened to auto-intertextuality. Auto-intertextuality diverges from the literary-critical concept of intertextuality. The latter tends to diminish the author's role in creating meaning, because the author cannot control the range of meanings that readers will generate from any given work in relation to other works.
By examining the similarities and differences between the two pairs of Du Boisian works we can spotlight how Du Bois modified his idea of humanity — specifically, by expanding its analytical, practical, and geo-historical scope in the aftermath of World War I. As a consequence, the auto-intertextuality of Du Bois's idea of humanity illustrates the role that authors occupy in providing the conditions for the readers also to make meanings from the works themselves.
Note: I consider this presentation, which also includes subsequent clarifications, to be a draft version. Herein, I explore ideas and lines of
interpretation that may change in a future, more finalized form. Indeed,
some aspects of the text may require further elaboration. Thank you.
— Robert W. Williams
0.2. Navigating the Hypertext Presentation (Help Page)
0.2.1.
Keyboard Shortcuts
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b.
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0.2.2.
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c.
When proceeding forwards through the presentation structure via clicking the NEXT link, one ultimately will arrive at the END page. Similarly, when clicking the PREVious link, the viewer will return eventually to the START page of the entire presentation.
0.2.3.
Outline Tree within Sections
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The outline that is displayed within each page (screen) has clickable links to other sections of the main content, as well as to subsections within the current section. Also, there are links to Navigation Help and to the one-page, full-text version of the presentation. (For more details on the one-page format see Section 0.3.3.).
b.
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0.2.4.
Table of Contents (TOC)
a.
Clicking the TOC link will display a table of contents that lists all pages of the presentation, including the START page (and the rest of the front matter), as well as the END page.
b.
In addition, the TOC contains a link to the one-page, full-text version as well as links for accessing Navigation Help and for exiting the presentation.
c.
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0.2.5.
The Show and Hide Buttons
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Clicking the SHOW buttons found on some of the hypertext pages will display further information, such as notes and quotations.
b.
Once the previously hidden text is displayed, clicking the HIDE button will conceal it from view.
c.
The "D" key displays all hidden notes, which are marked by the Show buttons found on some hypertext pages. Conversely, the "W" key whisks away—hides—all revealed notes, which are labeled by the Hide buttons on a hypertext page. If either key is pressed where neither hidden nor revealed text is available, then a pop-up (alert) box appears indicating this.
0.2.6.
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0.2.7.
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b.
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b.
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d.
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e.
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0.2.9.
Accessing Help within the Hypertext Presentation
a.
To access this Help page, you will find a clickable link in the table of contents (TOC) at item "0.2. Navigating the Presentation".
b.
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c.
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d.
Also, the brief version of the Help can be accessed via a link, "Navigation Help (Brief)", which is located at the bottom of the left-side navigation bar and at the bottom of the table of contents.
0.2. Navigating the One-Page Format of the Presentation (Help)
a.
This page contains the full text of the hypertext-oriented presentation
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SHOW buttons of the hypertext version are displayed herein.
b.
The one-page format does not display any images located on the pages that start each hypertext section.
c.
Within this one-page, full-text version one will find a navigation menu at
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d.
To return to the hypertext-based lecture, click the menu link labeled "Return to Hypertext Format". Or press the "R" key, or the "T" key again.
e.
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f.
Do *not* use the <Backspace> key because it may exit the presentation.
g.
While in the one-page version you can view the Help info by pressing the "H" key once. To go back to the place where you initially invoked Help, press the "B" key. Or else, pressing "H" a second time, but before pressing "B", will return you to your initial place (and render the "B" key moot). •Caveat: After tapping "H" to access Help, if next you scroll the page via navigation keys or mouse wheel without having pressed "B" once or "H" a second time, then a later tap of "H" takes you to Help and makes the "B" key moot. This caveat does not apply if scrolling via touch screen or scroll bar.
The four works by Du Bois examined in this presentation can be located online: •"The Souls of White Folk." The Independent, Vol. 69, No. 3220 (August 18, 1910): 339-342. Online at Archive.org: start page •"The Souls of White Folk", Ch. II in Darkwater (1920). Online at Project Gutenberg: catalog page. •"Disfranchisement". In Pamphlets in Favor of Womman Suffrage, Vol. 4. NY: National American Woman Suffrage Association, ca. 1912. Online at HathiTrust: start page. •Of the Ruling of Men", Ch. VI in Darkwater (1920). Online at Project Gutenberg: catalog page. [Also available, with paragraph numbers, at my website.]
b.
My website also provides links to various DuBoisian primary sources. One can check the site map or visit the Sources page.
0.3.3.
The one-page, full-text version:
a.
For purposes of reading or printing, the full text of this otherwise hypertext-oriented presentation can be accessed sequentially as ONE PAGE in the current window. Note that the images found on the pages that start each hypertext section are not displayed in the one-page version.
b.
Also, one can access the one-page, full-text version via the left navigation menu and via the Table of Contents (TOC) menu.
c.
Within the one-page version navigation menus are located at the top and bottom of the page, as well as between the major sections.
d.
To exit the page of sequential text and resume the hypertext-based presentation, click one of the links labeled "Return to Hypertext Format". They are located at the top and bottom of the full text, as well as between the major sections.
e.
Please do *not* use the <Backspace> key for navigation. Under specific conditions it will dump you completely out of the full-text page as well as the presentation itself, at least with some browsers.
The four works by Du Bois examined in this presentation can be located online: •"The Souls of White Folk." The Independent, Vol. 69, No. 3220 (August 18, 1910): 339-342. Online at Archive.org: start page •"The Souls of White Folk", Ch. II in Darkwater (1920). Online at Project Gutenberg: catalog page. •"Disfranchisement". In Pamphlets in Favor of Womman Suffrage, Vol. 4. NY: National American Woman Suffrage Association, ca. 1912. Online at HathiTrust: start page. •"Of the Ruling of Men", Ch. VI in Darkwater (1920). Online at Project Gutenberg: catalog page. [Also available, with paragraph numbers, at my website.]
b.
My website also provides links to various DuBoisian primary sources. One can check the site map or visit the Sources page.
0.4. Acknowledgments
0.4.1.
I wish to thank the many who helped me make this presentation a reality:
a.
Dr. Ronald Stephens and Ms. Matilda Stokes, both at the African American Studies and Research Center, Purdue University.
b.
Prof. Yamu Kurewa and the Bennett College Faculty Development
Committee.
c.
Ms. Nadine McCain-Smith, Administrative Assistant, Division of Sciences and Mathematics at Bennett College.
0.4.2.
Copyrights and Fair Use
a.
The various image files found in this presentation are copyrighted
by their respective owners or registrants. The image files herein are
used for educational purposes only and in accordance with the
guidelines of "educational fair use".
b.
If anyone has a concern regarding an image file, please contact
Dr. Robert W. Williams.
Section 1: Introduction •1.1. The Humanities Digitalized •1.2. Presentation: General Themes
•1.3. Presentation: Specific Goals •1.4. R.Williams's Research Agenda •1.5. Presentation: Layout
Section 2: Intertextuality •2.1. General Definition •2.2. Intertextuality in Literary Criticism •2.3. Auto-Intertextuality Described
Section 3: On the Human(ities) •3.1. The Sciences, Natural and Social •3.2. The Humanities •3.3. Humanities Research •3.4. Du Bois on Humanity
Section 4: Digital Humanities and Collation •4.1. Digital Humanities Approaches •4.2. Debates within the Digital Humanities •4.3. Collation as DH Technique
Section 5: Du Bois's Auto-Intertextuality •5.1. Case Studies: Overview •5.2. Collation of Du Bois's Works •5.3. Expansion of the Analytical Scope of Humanity •5.4. Expansion of the Practical Scope of Humanity •5.5. Expansion of the Geo-Historical Scope of Humanity
Section 6: In Closing and References •6.1. Lessons •6.2. The Digital's Humanity •6.3. Caveats to Collation •6.4. References: Written or Edited by W.E.B. Du Bois •6.5. References: Written or Edited by Others
The digital humanities (DH) are defined generally as the application of computational methods and techniques to topics in the humanities.
a.
DH has increased in prominence in humanities disciplines.
b.
Examples of DH vary greatly: creating electronic archives; computer-mediated analysis and interpretation, some including visualization of data resembling graphs from natural sciences.
1.1.2.
Criticisms of DH:
a.
Critiques are expressed in "Transform DH", "Disrupting DH" and in critical DH studies, especially in terms of race, gender, and class analyses.
b.
What happens when the humanities be made digital?
c.
Does anything distinctive about humans remain after such quantifying empirical analyses?
1.1.3.
Digital humanities, I contend, can address and study human experiences in their manifold diversity.
a.
In my presentation I wish to further this symposium's theme, "Exploring the 'Humanity' in the Digital Humanities".
b.
Also, I wish to build on previous research emphasizing the symposium theme (e.g., Gallon 2016).
1.1.4.
My presentation discusses one way to explore the humanity in the digital humanities: specifically, via what has been termed intra-authorial intertextuality, or what others have called auto-intertextuality (e.g., Kreiswirth 1996).
a.
Intertextuality in general has been defined as texts speaking with one another, or perhaps as an author directly or indirectly referencing other works, intentionally or unintentionally alluding to other ideas, images, or themes.
b.
Often literary criticism, following the coiner of the term, Julia Kristeva (1986a & 1986b) writes about intertextuality in terms of the relationships between author and reader, and author as reader — relationships that produce the web of textual meanings that the author alone cannot encompass or produce.
c.
Some in the realm of literary criticism have even proclaimed the death of the author and the birth of the reader (Barthes 1968).
d.
Auto-intertextuality as an approach holds that the author's thoughts and concepts are not only based in one work, but can and should be read in the context of her/his other writings.
1.2. General Themes of the Presentation
1.2.1.
Overaching Themes: to address the humanity in digital humanities and to demonstrate how DH techniques can illustrate the idea of humanity itself.
1.2.2.
In this presentation I hold that Du Bois's idea of humanity requires us to understand the ways he defined and illustrated his concept of humanity.
a.
For Du Bois humanity is a composite definition involving: •the capabilities of humans with regard to agency and its attendant characteristics of intentionality, consciousness of self and context, as well as the inescapability of acting in the world; and also •the values and ideals by which human live and act in the world and by which humans understand the world (i.e., humans make meaning).
b.
For Du Bois race, gender, and class were not barriers to the actualization of human agency or to the making of meaning in the world.
1.2.3.
Does the humanities' idea of the uniqueness and irreducibility of individual humans in their works conflict with the idea of intertextuality that the uniqueness of a writer is moribund because signification lies outside the scope of the writer's intentionality and the individual writer's works?
1.3. Specific Goals of the Presentation
1.3.1.
Using case studies of Du Bois's Works:
a.
Does one work encompass or delimit all of the dimensions of a concept or idea?
b.
What are these differences in a concept as found among the works of writer (herein Du Bois)?
1.3.2.
DH techniques study intertextuality in various ways.
a.
I will use collation software to analyze Du Bois's auto-intertextuality in the crafting of his idea of humanity.
b.
Collation techniques can illustrate how Du Bois elaborated on humanity in terms of the expansion of its analytical scope, its geographical scope, and its practical (especially political) scope.
c.
As a consequence, the humanity in digital humanities can be addressed by examining how, via collation, human agency in the form of auto-intertextuality is manifested in two sets of works by Du Bois.
1.4. Robert W. Williams's Research Agenda
1.4.1.
This presentation continues my previous research and also is part of a larger research agenda: C.V. at http://www.webdubois.org/rwcv.htm
First, I define intertextuality in both a general sense and as an approach derived from literary criticism.
1.5.2.
Next, I will discuss humans as studied by the natural and social sciences as well as by the humanities disciplines. Also, I will examine Du Bois's composite idea of humanity.
1.5.3.
Then, I examine very briefly the digital humanities techniques in general, and collation analysis in particular.
1.5.4.
That is followed by the presentation of two sets of works by Du Bois as visualized via collation in order to illustrate the auto-intertextuality of his idea of humanity.
1.5.5.
I close with lessons and caveats for the use of DH techniques in the study of humanity.
An author in her/his writing or art work makes allusions (indirect) and references (usually explicit) to other works or ideas of the Zeitgeist.
2.1.2.
Many studies of intertextuality are available, which utilize the general definition.
2.1.3.
Graham Allen's Intertextuality (2000) offers a useful and detailed introduction to the many dimensions by which various scholars have conceptualized the term.
2.2. Intertextuality in Literary Criticism
2.2.1.
Julia Kristeva coined the term intertextuality.
a.
intertextuality, in general, emphasizes that relationships between texts — more specifically, relationships between sign systems — constitute meaning-production.
b.
In the essay "Revolution in Poetic Language" Kristeva writes:
If one grants that every signifying practice is a field of transpositions of various signifying systems (an intertextuality), then one understands that its 'place' of enunciation and its denoted 'object' are never single, complete, and identical to themselves, but always plural, shattered, capable of being tabulated. [1986a: p.111]
2.2.2.
General tenets of the literary-criticism (lit-crit) form of intertextuality:
a.
The author does not so much as write a text, but rather participates within structures of signs, which are thus beyond the author's agency of creating.
b.
Authors cannot know how their texts will be interpreted because readers will make connections outside of an author's intentions (which are thereby insignificant to the comprehension of a work).
2.2.3.
Implications of the lit-crit concept of intertextuality:
a.
Meaning is open-ended and never fully complete.
b.
No single work can supply all that is needed to understand its meaning.
c.
Consequently, for theorists like Roland Barthes (1968), the author is dead, and readers rule.
d.
The definition of humans as agents of intentionality, consciousness, and meaning is invalid.
2.3. Auto-Intertextuality Described
2.3.1.
Scholars use similar terms to describe the referential relations between the various works of the same author: for example, authorial intertexuality; intratextuality; intra-authorial intertextuality, and auto-intertextuality.
a.
Eggert used the term "authorial intertextuality":
[R]elations within and between the author's writings form...an authorial intertextuality, a continuum of authorship, itself part of a larger biographical flux that takes its shape in response to the pressures of...social, cultural, and other environments. (66) [Eggert 1991]
b.
Kreiswirth employed "auto-intertextuality" to study William Faulkner's works, particularly "the specific movements—transformations, absorptions, and 'operative repetitions'—of elements from one Faulkner text to another." (1996: 162)
2.3.2.
Scholars studying the development of Du Bois's ideas across his numerous works often implicitly use an intertextual-like framework, but without naming it as such. Few scholars specifically address Du Bois and his works in terms of auto-intertextuality.
a.
An exception is Hack, who wrote about Du Bois's "auto-meta-intertextuality" in a lecture, delivered at Fisk University on the occasion of its 75th anniversary, entitled "The Vision of Phillis the Blessed: An Allegory of Negro American Literature in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries" (Hack 2016: 196). •Hack analyzed how Du Bois referred in this speech to his own "meta-citations" in earlier works (e.g., Souls), via which he had referenced other African Americans' citations of Victorian literature. •According to Hack, Du Bois "supplements" and "corrects" his earlier diminished treatment of Phillis Wheatley in Souls by explicitly addressing her in relation to the poet Daniel Rosetti (Hack 2016: 202).
2.3.3.
In this presentation I will be using auto-intertextuality as a conceptual lens by which to interpret Du Bois's elaborations and expansions of his concept of humanity.
a.
Although I do not elaborate upon the idea that auto-intertextuality generates textual instability in one purportedly unequivocal meaning, I do stress the idea that Du Bois's concept of humanity is not fully, if ever, encapsulated by one particular work.
b.
Several possible, interconnected reasons exist for the incompleteness of a concept within any given work by an author and the subsequent necessity to incorporate all relevant works. •Such reasons include the further theoretical refinement of, or even corrections to, the concept; as well as the goal to illustrate the idea with pertinent examples, or to apply the idea to societal situations. •Such modifications to a concept may be motivated by the author's response to events and/or to influences by others. •One may read Solleveld (2014) for a more comprehensive list of the general types of intertextuality and their varied functions and purposes within a work.
c.
I will emphasize the changing world political environment that Du Bois addressed in the works under study herein, especially during the course, and the aftermath, of World War One.
The natural and social sciences study "what is" as quantifiable phenomena.
a.
They seek explanations of causality, whether deterministic or probabilistic.
b.
Explanations are linked to generalizations: phenomena under similar conditions will, or probably will, be observed to behave in similar, observable ways.
c.
Modeling and statistics necessarily produce abstractions: the former in order to concentrate on the most salient variables; the latter in order to represent a multitude of data points by one number or equation.
3.1.2.
In the social sciences humans are objects to be studied.
a.
Individual humans are studied via techniques that convert or reduce them to data points within aggregations of other data all so as to discern regularities or patterns that can be generalized to other humans under similar conditions.
b.
To the extent that generalizations predict the results discovered by further research, then we have a robust and parsimonious empirical theory.
3.2. The Humanities
3.2.1.
The humanities disciplines (e.g. literature, history, philosophy, the arts, etc.) are typically understood to involve the following tenets:
a.
Humans are individual subjects who express values and who create meaning via their actions, artifacts, and events or sequences of events.
b.
Humans participate in a world of shared meanings.
c.
Humanities research typically seeks to understand humans as subjects in their own right in order to interpret the meaning and values manifested by humans in their actions and artifacts (e.g. the use of verstehen to approach some understanding of human experiences and thought).
d.
Human artifacts are studied as valuable in themselves: earlier artifacts like cave paintings or petroglyphs are not less valuable because they are different from, or supposedly less advanced than, later types of art works.
e.
Indeed, any differences among artifacts and cultures are marks of human uniqueness, and moreover illustrate humanity's capacity to create meaningful novelty.
3.2.2.
Max Weber in his lecture "Science as a Vocation" (1917) said: the humanities disciplines do not advance the way that the natural sciences do in terms of a progressive development of knowledge that tends to render previous claims to knowledge as less useful and even as irrelevant.
3.3. Humanities Research
3.3.1.
Literary studies typically focus on the unique aspects of individual works by individual authors, while history examines the unique aspects of individual events or a related series of events.
3.3.2.
Humanities research does indeed acknowledge patterns in the works, actions and activities of humans. Patterns may involve the common themes across different works and authors.
3.3.3.
Nevertheless, even as patterns may be discovered, the individual artifacts actions and events maintain their unique status, which itself is an important tenet of humanities research.
a.
Indeed, it is from examining the patterns (e.g., common characteristics and themes) that human actions, artifacts and events can be understood as particular in their uniqueness.
b.
Moreover, the uniqueness of human artifacts and events prohibits their reduction into, and abstraction as, a data point within an aggregation of data. Such uniqueness also highlights their unrepeatable aspects even if they share similarities with other human actions and events.
3.3.4.
For example,
a.
Du Bois is noted for his use of the color line in The Souls of Black Folk (1903). Frederick Douglass (1881) also wrote about the color line.
b.
Du Bois is in/famous for his idea of the Talented Tenth (1903). Henry Lyman Morehouse (1896) initially coined the term, the Talented Tenth.
c.
Intertextuality can highlight the range of meanings of the color line and Talented Tenth concepts.
3.4. Du Bois on Humanity
3.4.1. Humanity, as defined by Du Bois across various works, is typified by the capacity to progress socially, politically and economically.
a.
Humans do not have fixed and immutable traits that would limit the development of intelligence, prosperity, and cultural achievements.
3.4.2. Such capacities had normative implications for Du Bois:
a.
Equality and freedom should be accorded to all.
b.
Any hindrances based on discrimination were unwarranted and should be removed.
c.
Whites were not the touchstone of success. Eurocentrism and White supremacism should be ended.
3.4.3.
Such aspects of humanity in general and race with regard to humanity were common themes in his works. Examples from Du Bois's works:
a.
"The Conservation of Races" (1897)
b.
"The Study of the Negro Problems" (1897)
c.
"Atlanta Conferences" (1904)
d.
"The Development of a People" (1904)
e.
"Evolution of the Race Problem" (1909)
f.
Black Reconstruction (1935)
3.4.4.
In the process of framing Africana peoples as an integral part of humanity, Du Bois likewise addressed Whites as part of his composite idea of humanity.
a.
In particular, Du Bois examined the inhumanity perpetrated by Whites against persons of color and against other Whites.
3.4.5.
Even a cursory glance will reveal that Du Bois's idea of humanity was not sui generis. Indeed, his characteristics of humanity intertextually resonate with others of his era and earlier.
the creation and curation of digital archives, especially online; and
c.
using computational methods and software applications to analyze and interpret artifacts.
4.1.2.
The goals of DH qua computational approaches
a.
Analyze the artifacts and visualize the result in various forms (graphs of several types, maps, etc).
b.
Computational approaches include: •distant reading and its associated topic modeling; •deformation of texts, such as advocated by McGann and Samuels (1999); and •computer-mediated close reading involving concordance and collation applications.
4.2. Debates within the Digital Humanities
4.2.1.
Critiques
a.
Criticisms of distant reading, such as is practiced by Moretti (2013).
b.
Hack versus yack (Nowviskie 2016).
c.
Do computational approaches and data visualizations incorporate the tenets of humanities research? See Drucker 2012a & 2012b.
d.
Critical DH: race, gender, class (e.g., Bailey 2011; Kim & Stommel n.d., Risam 2015).
4.2.2.
Collation offers one way to bridge the gap between distant reading and close reading
4.3. Collation as DH Technique
4.3.1.
Two general DH approaches:
a.
Comparing two or three words in a base text with a witness text(s) or else a corpus of texts: (bigrams or trigrams) in order to discover similarities between texts •Example: the Tesserae project seeks "text reuse" — a common term in DH — among the works of a corpus. If found, then close reading of those similar works is warranted. (Tesserae: http://tesserae.caset.buffalo.edu/blog/).
b.
Comparing a base text with a witness text(s): seek similarity between works regardless of the number of words that are reused. •This leads to varying size groups of words that are similar between the works •Examples: Juxta, Collatex (www.collatex.net) and the Versioning Machine (www.v-machine.org).
4.3.2.
Visualizations differ among DH applications
a.
Collatex display paths of similarity and divergence across the texts.
b.
Juxta and the Versioning Machine display the base text and one witness text side-by-side and highlights the comparisons between the texts
4.3.3.
The Juxta collation application
a.
Juxta as desktop stand-alone computer program (www.juxtasoftware.org/download/).
b.
Juxta Commons is the online version (www.juxtacommons.org).
Two sets of Du Boisian works to be compared via Juxta collation software
a.
"The Souls of White Folk" in its two versions (as a magazine essay and as a book chapter);
b.
"Disfranchisement", a pamphlet published circa 1912, and "Of the Ruling of Men", a book chapter published in 1920.
5.1.2.
"The Souls of White Folk"
a.
The earlier version of the essay "The Souls of White Folk" (1910) [SWFI] was printed in the periodical The Independent.
b.
The later "The Souls of White Folk" was included in Darkwater [SWFD]. It incorporated parts of SWFI but also added new material that covered the First World War.
5.1.3.
"Disfranchisement" and "Of the Ruling of Men"
a.
The "Disfranchisement" pamphlet [DISF] was written for an American audience supporting women's suffrage. Du Bois incorporated race and class into his argument for the necessity of extending suffrage — indeed, in securing suffrage for African American males as per the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
b.
"Of the Ruling of Men" [OROM] was published in Darkwater in 1920. The chapter included parts of "Disfranchisement" but also added more general overview of the history of the expansion of suffrage as well as material on the tyranny of the majority and on democratizing industrial decisions.
5.2. Collation of Du Bois's Texts
5.2.1.
What does collation analysis show us about Du Bois's idea of humanity?
5.2.2.
The expansion of the analytical scope of humanity: specifically, the negation of humanity by means of the inhumanity of oppression and war.
5.2.3.
The expansion of the practical scope of humanity: that is, the expansion of the political scope of human agency. Humans across the world humans should vote and suffrage should be supported.
5.2.4.
The expansion of geographical scope of Du Bois's composite idea of humanity world-wide.
5.3. Expansion of the Analytical Scope of Humanity
5.3.1.
Du Bois regularly discussed and analyzed White supremacism and its associated atrocities against persons of color. I would interpret Du Bois as including within his composite definition of humanity a dimension involving the negation of humanity, which is manifested as inhumanity.
5.3.2.
European so-called civilization commits atrocities against each other
a.
SWFI ¶¶ 20-22 not repeated in SWFD.
b.
SWFD ¶¶ 17-19 are new paragraphs.
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5.3.2.
American oppression against Blacks is associated with World War I atrocities.
a.
SWFI ¶¶ 15-16 not repeated in SWFD
b.
SWFD ¶ 14 is new to that text.
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5.4. Expansion of the Practical Scope of Humanity
5.4.1.
Du Bois expands the scope of human agency, including its political scope.
5.4.2.
OROM emphasized the global expansion of the political role of all races in decision-making.
a.
New ¶ 34 was added to "Of the Ruling of Men": humans can and should vote.
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5.4.3.
Human unknowability is an integral part of humans around the globe. I can know about another through communication and research, but I cannot know directly another's experiences.
a.
OROM ¶ 20 elaborates on the "excluded wisdom" that Du Bois has written about in DISF (¶ 15) and has included almost verbatim within OROM (¶ 27).
b.
OROM ¶ 20 documents a recurring theme in his understanding of humanity: namely, the ethical and political significance of the unknowability of others' experiences and knowledge.
c.
OROM ¶ 20 elaborates on a recurring DuBoisian theme: Du Bois links individual unknowability to knowledge generation and then links the varied knowledges to the "greater world", which itself indicates for Du Bois that ignorance of others' knowledges reinforces the existing forms of social oppression "by a group of doddering ancients...."
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5.5. Expansion of the Geo-Historical Scope of Humanity
5.5.1.
Du Bois elaborated upon "Of the Ruling of Men" ¶ 34 and its expansion of the practical scope of humanity. Here he extends his idea of humanity to a world-wide range.
5.5.2.
The image below shows the first paragraphs of both DISF and OROM.
a.
OROM's first paragraphs set up a general historical overview of the expansion of democracy that will precede the later inclusion of some slightly modified paragraphs from DISF. In this way, Du Bois's OROM expands the historical dimension of his composite view of humanity.
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5.5.3.
The histogram of DISF and OROM
a.
The histogram displays the differences between DISF and OROM. The majority of differences are at the beginning and end of the two works. This represents to OROM's emphasis on expanding the geo-historical dimensions of humanity.
5.5.4.
DISF ¶ ¶ 16-17 corresponds very closely to OROM ¶ 28
a.
Note, however, in OROM ¶ 28 Du Bois adds "from the world":
"Or if the 'submerged tenth' be excluded, then again, there is lost from the world an experience of untold value, and they must be raised rapidly to a place where they can speak for themselves."
The meaning of a concept is not exhausted or fully delineated in one work.
a.
Values and ideas are adjusted, changed, expanded, clarified, and illustrated in various works by the same author.
b.
Accordingly, interpretation of a concept in its various dimensions requires that we understand the intertextuality of all relevant works.
c.
This is similar to, but not identical with, the literary-critical idea that meaning does not reside solely in one work, but across multiple works.
6.1.2.
Crucially, according to auto-intertextuality, the author her/himself has organized the set of textual artifacts before us by assembling the unique configuration of words, even while intentionally or unintentionally engaging in intertextuality.
a.
The author provides the conditions for the possibility of a work's (or set of works') particular configuration of words and ideas.
b.
The readers including the author provide the conditions for the possibility of meaning production / generation.
c.
Thus, rather than a dichotomous (i.e., inverse) relationship between the demise of the author and the rise of readers (as Barthes 1968 argued), intra-authorial intertextuality permits an understanding that the author provides only one view among (many) other interpretations by the readers.
6.2. The Digital's Humanity
6.2.1.
The auto-intertextuality of Du Bois, examined via collation software, helps us to better understand the humanity in the digital humanities
6.2.2.
Through collation analysis we can visualize how Du Bois modified his composite concept of humanity across several of his works.
a.
Such modifications highlight Du Bois's agency in adapting his concept to changing circumstances in the USA and the world.
b.
By so illuminating agency among Du Bois's works, digital humanities — at least some DH techniques — can also highlight the humanity that we study in the artifacts and the meanings that we humans make.
— FINIS —
¿Proceed to the END PAGE, skipping over the Appendix: Caveats and the References?
6.3. Appendix: Caveats to Computer-Mediated Interpretation via Collation
6.3.1.
Standard caveats:
a.
Are the transcribed texts as well as texts rendered by optical character recognition (OCR) accurate with regard to the original?
b.
How do we handle the author's corrections of various types (insertions, deletions, marginalia, whether by hand or typed/printed)?
c.
How do we address punctuation and capital letters?
d.
How do we address transposed passages that vary in relative position within a base text when compared with a witness text?
e.
How do we address synonyms as well as metaphors, metonyms, and other related rhetorical devices when comparing texts?
6.3.2.
Juxta-related caveats:
a.
There are situations when the theme of the base text and the witness text are reflected in similar words and phrases, even though the actual passages themselves across the two works have been heavily rewritten and recast in divergent ways. In this case Juxta might closely align the passages of both works and thereby prompt us to a closer reading of similarly themed, but textually dissimilar passages. •For example: DISF ¶ 7 diverges markedly when read in relation to OROM ¶ 18, yet Juxta aligns the passages. [Image: Passages from DISF collated with OROM.]
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b.
There are also situations when the Juxta algorithm will more or less closely align the two works in terms of similar words and phrases, but the respective passages do not possess a similar theme or idea. In this case the limitations of Juxta's comparison algorithm will be obvious. •For example: DISF ¶¶ 7-8 differs noticeably when compared with OROM ¶ 20; nonetheless Juxta aligns those passages.
[Image: Passages from DISF collated with OROM.]
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6.4. References: Written or Edited by W.E.B. Du Bois
1897. "The Conservation of Races." The American Negro Academy Occasional Papers, No. 2. Washington, D.C.: American Negro Academy. URL: www.webdubois.org/dbConsrvOfRaces.html
1898. "The Study of the Negro Problems." The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 11 (January): 1-23. URL: www.webdubois.org/dbStudyofnprob.html
1903. "The Talented Tenth." Pp. 33-75 (Ch. 2) in The Negro Problem: A Series of Articles by Representative American Negroes of To-day, by Booker T. Washington, et al. NY: James Pott and Company.
1903. The Souls of Black Folk. Chicago: A.C. McClurg.
1905. "The Negro Ideals of Life." The Christian Register, 84.43 (October 26): 1197-1199.
1906 [1995.] "Address to the Country." Pp.367-369 in David Levering Lewis (Ed.), W.E.B. Du Bois: A Reader. NY: H. Holt and Co.
1909. "Evolution of the Race Problem." Pp.142-158 in the Proceedings of the National Negro Conference. NY: s.n. URL: www.webdubois.org/dbEvolOfRaceProb.html
1910. "The Souls of White Folk." The Independent, Vol. 69, No. 3220 (August 18, 1910): 339-342. Online at Archive.org: start page
Ca. 1911-12. "Disfranchisement". In Pamphlets in Favor of Womman Suffrage, Vol. 4. NY: National American Woman Suffrage Association, ca. 1912. Online at HathiTrust: start page.
1911. "Races." The Crisis, 2:4 (August): 157-158.
1920. "The Souls of White Folk", Ch. II in Darkwater (1920).
1920. "Of the Ruling of Men." Ch. VI In W.E.B. Du Bois, Darkwater: Voices from within the Veil. NY: Harcourt, Brace and Howe.
1935. Black Reconstruction: An Essay Toward a History of the Part Which Black Folk Played in the Attempt to Reconstruct Democracy in America, 1860-1880. NY: Harcourt Brace & Company. URL: http://archive.org/details/blackreconstruc00dubo
6.5. References: Written or Edited by Others
Allen, Graham. 2000. Intertextuality. [Series: The New Critical Idiom.] London: Routledge.
Bailey, Moya Z. 2011. "All the Digital Humanists Are White, All the Nerds Are Men, but Some of Us Are Brave." Journal of Digital Humanities, 1:1 (Winter). Online at JDH.
Barthes, Roland. 1968 [1977.] "The Death of the Author." Pp. 142-148 in Image Music Text, Edited and Translated by Steven Heath. London: Fontana Press.
Cohen, Philip. 1997. "'The Key to the Whole Book': Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury, the Compson Appendix, and Textual Instability. In Philip Cohen (Ed.), Texts and Textuality: Textual Instability, Theory, Interpretation. NY: Garland. URL: http://drc.usask.ca/projects/faulkner/main/criticism/cohen.html
Douglass, Frederick. 1881. "The Color Line." The North American Review, 132:295 (June): 567-577. Online at JSTOR.
Drucker, Johanna. 2012a. "Humanities Theory and Digital Scholarship." In Debates in the Digital Humanities, 2012 Ed., edited by Matthew K. Gold and Lauren F. Klein. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. URL: http://dhdebates.gc.cuny.edu/debates/text/34
Eggert, Paul. 1991. "Textual Product or Textual Practice: Procedures and Assumptions of Critical Editing." Pp. 57-77 in Philip G. Cohen (Ed.), Devils and Angels: Textual Editing and Literary Theory. Charlottesville: University Press of Virgina. [As cited in Philip Cohen 1997.]
Gallon, Kim. 2016. "Making a Case for the Black Digital Humanities." In Debates in the Digital Humanities, 2016 Ed., edited by Matthew K. Gold and Lauren F. Klein. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. URL: http://dhdebates.gc.cuny.edu/debates/text/55
Hack, Daniel. 2016. Reaping Something New: African American Transformations of Victorian Literature. Princeton: Princeton U.P.
Kreiswirth, Martin. 1996. "'Paradoxical and Outrageous Discrepancy': Transgression, Auto-Intertextuality, and Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha." Pp. 161-180 in Donald M. Kartigarner and Ann J. Abadie, Eds., Faulkner and the Artist: Faulkner and Yoknapatawpha. University Press of Mississippi.
Kristeva, Julia. 1986a. "Revolution in Poetic Language". Ch. 5 in The Kristeva Reader, Edited by Toril Moi. NY: Columbia U.P.
Kristeva, Julia. 1986b. "Word, Dialogue and Novel". Ch. 2 in The Kristeva Reader, Edited by Toril Moi. NY: Columbia U.P.
McGann, Jerome and Lisa Samuels. 1999. "Deformance and Interpretation," New Literary History, 30:1 (Winter): 25-56.
Morehouse, Henry Lyman. 1896. "The Talented Tenth." The American Missionary, 50:6 (June): pp.182-183. [Morehouse originally published the essay (under the same title) in the periodical, The Independent, v.48 (23 April 1896): p.1.] URL: www.webdubois.org/MorehouseTalentedTenth.html
Moretti, Franco. 2013. Distant Reading. London: Verso Books.
Nowviskie, Bethany. 2016. "On the Origin of 'Hack' and 'Yack.'" In Debates in the Digital Humanities, 2016 Ed., edited by Matthew K. Gold and Lauren F. Klein. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. URL: http://dhdebates.gc.cuny.edu/debates/text/58
Risam, Roopika. 2015. "Beyond the Margins: Intersectionality and the Digital Humanities." Digital Humanities Quarterly, 9:2. Online at DHQ.
Solleveld, Floris. 2014. "What Books Are Made of: Scholarship and Intertextuality in the History of the Humanities." Pp.265-279 in Rens Bod, Jaap Maat, and Thijs Weststeijn (Eds.), The Making of the Humanities, Volume III: The Modern Humanities. Amsterdam: Amsterdam U.P.
Weber, Max. 1917 [2004.] "Science as a Vocation." Pp.1-31 in The Vocation Lectures, Edited by David Owen and Tracy B. Strong; Translated by Rodney Livingstone. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Publishing.
"The morning breaks over blood-stained hills.
We must not falter, we may not shrink.
Above are the everlasting stars."
— W.E.B. Du Bois, "Address to the Country" (ATTC 1906)
_350h309w.jpg "Du Bois, 1904 (Photo, 5th Editon of Souls)")
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