"Beyond This Narrow Now": Or, Delimitations, of W. E. B. Du Bois
by Nahum Dimitri Chandler
Duke University Press, 2022 Cloth: 978-1-4780-1387-7 | Paper: 978-1-4780-1480-5 | eISBN: 978-1-4780-2212-1 Library of Congress Classification PS3507.U147Z55 2021
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
ABOUT THIS BOOK In “Beyond This Narrow Now” Nahum Dimitri Chandler shows that the premises of W. E. B. Du Bois's thinking at the turn of the twentieth century stand as fundamental references for the whole itinerary of his thought. Opening with a distinct approach to the legacy of Du Bois, Chandler proceeds through a series of close readings of Du Bois's early essays, previously unpublished or seldom studied, with discrete annotations of The Souls of Black Folk: Essays and Sketches of 1903, elucidating and elaborating basic epistemological terms of his thought. With theoretical attention to how the African American stands as an example of possibility for Du Bois and renders problematic traditional ontological thought, Chandler also proposes that Du Bois's most well-known phrase—“the problem of the color line”—sustains more conceptual depth than has yet been understood, with pertinence for our accounts of modern systems of enslavement and imperial colonialism and the incipient moments of modern capitalization. Chandler's work exemplifies a more profound engagement with Du Bois, demonstrating that he must be re-read, appreciated, and studied anew as a philosophical writer and thinker contemporary to our time.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Nahum Dimitri Chandler is Professor in the School of Humanities at the University of California, Irvine, author of X: The Problem of the Negro as a Problem for Thought and editor of The Problem of the Color Line at the Turn of the Twentieth Century: The Essential Early Essays by W. E. B. Du Bois.
REVIEWS
“Nahum Dimitri Chandler's "Beyond This Narrow Now" gives the reader the marvelous benefit of Chandler's exquisite knowledge of the DuBoisian oeuvre and his singular unrelenting commitment to tarrying with it. As one of our master teachers, Chandler is at his best here in leading us systematically, virtually line by line, through early Du Bois in his critical conceptual formation.”
-- Hortense J. Spillers, Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor, Vanderbilt University
“‘Beyond This Narrow Now’ is a seminal contribution to foregrounding Du Bois’ epistemological roots and its implication for the future.”
-- Mosa M. Phadi Ethnic and Racial Studies
"Chandler is a meticulous scholar and a brilliant thinker with much to say about Du Bois as an intellectual problem. Parts of the book will be accessible to many readers, and Chandler’s approach to analysis serves as a master class in close reading. However, because of the occasionally esoteric nature of Chandler's approach, readers with a background in critical theory or philosophy have the most to gain. Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates, graduate students, researchers/faculty, professionals/practitioners."
-- J. W. Miller Choice
“Chandler’s work is a definitive contribution towards a re-assessment of contemporary orientations of Du Boisian scholarship. His original thoughts and perspectives on Du Bois . . . provide new, innovative approaches to the work of such an iconic thinker and writer.”
-- Lena Dallywater Connections
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgments vii Note on Citations xiii An Opening—At the Limit of Thought, a Preface xvii A Notation: The Practice of W.E.B. Du Bois as a Problem for Thought—Amidst the Turn of the Centuries 1 Part I. "Beyond This Narrow Now": Elaborations of the Example in the Thought of W.E.B. Du Bois—At the Limit of the World 25 Part II. The Problem of the Centuries: A Contemporary Elaboration of "The Present Outlook for the Dark Races of Mankind," circa the 27th of December, 1899—Or, At the Turn of the Twentieth Century 145 Another Coda, the Explicit—Revisited 221 Notes 231 References 269 Index 291
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"Beyond This Narrow Now": Or, Delimitations, of W. E. B. Du Bois
by Nahum Dimitri Chandler
Duke University Press, 2022 Cloth: 978-1-4780-1387-7 Paper: 978-1-4780-1480-5 eISBN: 978-1-4780-2212-1
In “Beyond This Narrow Now” Nahum Dimitri Chandler shows that the premises of W. E. B. Du Bois's thinking at the turn of the twentieth century stand as fundamental references for the whole itinerary of his thought. Opening with a distinct approach to the legacy of Du Bois, Chandler proceeds through a series of close readings of Du Bois's early essays, previously unpublished or seldom studied, with discrete annotations of The Souls of Black Folk: Essays and Sketches of 1903, elucidating and elaborating basic epistemological terms of his thought. With theoretical attention to how the African American stands as an example of possibility for Du Bois and renders problematic traditional ontological thought, Chandler also proposes that Du Bois's most well-known phrase—“the problem of the color line”—sustains more conceptual depth than has yet been understood, with pertinence for our accounts of modern systems of enslavement and imperial colonialism and the incipient moments of modern capitalization. Chandler's work exemplifies a more profound engagement with Du Bois, demonstrating that he must be re-read, appreciated, and studied anew as a philosophical writer and thinker contemporary to our time.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Nahum Dimitri Chandler is Professor in the School of Humanities at the University of California, Irvine, author of X: The Problem of the Negro as a Problem for Thought and editor of The Problem of the Color Line at the Turn of the Twentieth Century: The Essential Early Essays by W. E. B. Du Bois.
REVIEWS
“Nahum Dimitri Chandler's "Beyond This Narrow Now" gives the reader the marvelous benefit of Chandler's exquisite knowledge of the DuBoisian oeuvre and his singular unrelenting commitment to tarrying with it. As one of our master teachers, Chandler is at his best here in leading us systematically, virtually line by line, through early Du Bois in his critical conceptual formation.”
-- Hortense J. Spillers, Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor, Vanderbilt University
“‘Beyond This Narrow Now’ is a seminal contribution to foregrounding Du Bois’ epistemological roots and its implication for the future.”
-- Mosa M. Phadi Ethnic and Racial Studies
"Chandler is a meticulous scholar and a brilliant thinker with much to say about Du Bois as an intellectual problem. Parts of the book will be accessible to many readers, and Chandler’s approach to analysis serves as a master class in close reading. However, because of the occasionally esoteric nature of Chandler's approach, readers with a background in critical theory or philosophy have the most to gain. Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates, graduate students, researchers/faculty, professionals/practitioners."
-- J. W. Miller Choice
“Chandler’s work is a definitive contribution towards a re-assessment of contemporary orientations of Du Boisian scholarship. His original thoughts and perspectives on Du Bois . . . provide new, innovative approaches to the work of such an iconic thinker and writer.”
-- Lena Dallywater Connections
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgments vii Note on Citations xiii An Opening—At the Limit of Thought, a Preface xvii A Notation: The Practice of W.E.B. Du Bois as a Problem for Thought—Amidst the Turn of the Centuries 1 Part I. "Beyond This Narrow Now": Elaborations of the Example in the Thought of W.E.B. Du Bois—At the Limit of the World 25 Part II. The Problem of the Centuries: A Contemporary Elaboration of "The Present Outlook for the Dark Races of Mankind," circa the 27th of December, 1899—Or, At the Turn of the Twentieth Century 145 Another Coda, the Explicit—Revisited 221 Notes 231 References 269 Index 291
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
It can take 2-3 weeks for requests to be filled.
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE