Seminar paper from the year 2008 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 1,3, University of Freiburg, language: English, abstract: The present paper investigates the significance of African American identity in relation to the historical circumstances of the post-Reconstruction period. It is a simple truth that history rarely presents us the whole picture: Facts may be distorted, specific times or events may be over- or underrepresented, or left out altogether. In The Souls of Black Folk, written by William Edward Burghardt Du Bois, we find an attempt to rectify one-sided historiography. This book, probably the best-known of his many scientific and literary writings, features forays into autobiography, fiction, eulogy and even musicology.