Meaning of double consciousness | Babel Free

Definitions

The awareness of an African American of having two selves, their inward self and the self, created by how white people see them.

uncountable

Examples

“Double-consciousness is the African American’s awareness of possessing two souls: an outward self based largely on how whites perceive him and an inward self that he comes to realize⟳ as his truer self.”

“Postcolonial theorists often describe⟳ the colonial subject as having a double⟳ consciousness or double⟳ vision, in other words, a consciousness or way of perceiving the world that is divided between two antagonistic worlds, a consciousness or way of perceiving the world that is divided between two antagonistic cultures: that of the colonizer and that of the indigenous community.”

CEFR level