“Du Bois' the Souls of Black Folk: A Retrospective Classic?”

Nowadays a sociological classic, W.E.B. Du Bois’ 1903 The Souls of Black Folk, was virtually absent from sociology reading lists, let alone theoretical debates, until very late into the twentieth century. By that time, however, cultural studies on race and ethnicity had already become a well-established domain, with its own theoretical approaches, and a wealth of empirical research.

Yet this situation was soon to suffer a dramatic change. Between 1990 and early 2000, The Souls earns its place in the canon, with virtually all major race and ethnicity textbooks identifying it as one its founding texts.

This paper is a first attempt at tackling this puzzle. Against prevailing theories of disciplinary canonization, which suggest books to inspire practitioners in a certain direction of research, the dissemination and subsequent canonization of The Souls occurs decades after the emergence and consolidation of cultural studies on race and ethnicity. Specifically, we ask: What does the history of this book tell us about the legitimizing role classical books perform in disciplines like sociology, even if retrospectively only? What do we gain from analyzing The Souls not only as a text with certain intrinsic qualities, but also as a book whose materiality includes the circumstances of its production and commercial edition in the turn of the century America, the geography of its circulation (namely, its translations and re-editions) and its material forms? Who were the social agents involved in this process – from commercial editors and professional translators to academic commentators? What motivated them? How is the reading of Du Bois by major contemporary race theorists, such as Patricia Collins or H. Winant, shaped by the history of this particular book? More generally, what are the implications of this genealogical exercise for the ways in which teaching and research are undertaken in the social sciences today?