Wretched of the Earth Study Guide

Franz Fanon: A Short Biography

Frantz Fanon's relatively short life yielded two potent and influential statements of anti-
colonial revolutionary thought, Black Skin, White Masks !"#$% and &he Wretched of the
'arth !"(!%, works which have made Fanon a prominent contri)utor to postcolonial
studies*
Fanon was )orn in !"$#, to a middle-class family in the French colony of Martini+ue* ,e
left Martini+ue in !"-., when he volunteered to fight with the Free French in World War
//, and he remained in France after the war to study medicine and psychiatry on
scholarship in 0yon* ,ere he )egan writing political essays and plays, and he married a
Frenchwoman, 1ose 2u)le* Before he left France, Fanon had already pu)lished his first
analysis of the effects of racism and colonization, Black Skin, White Masks BSWM%,
originally titled 34n 'ssay for the 2isalienation of Blacks,3 in part )ased on his lectures
and e5periences in 0yon*
BSWM is part manifesto, part analysis6 it )oth presents Fanon's personal e5perience as a
)lack intellectual in a whitened world and ela)orates the ways in which the
colonizer7colonized relationship is normalized as psychology* Because of his schooling
and cultural )ackground, the young Fanon conceived of himself as French, and the
disorientation he felt after his initial encounter with French racism decisively shaped his
psychological theories a)out culture* Fanon inflects his medical and psychological
practice with the understanding that racism generates harmful psychological constructs
that )oth )lind the )lack man to his su)8ection to a universalized white norm and alienate
his consciousness* 4 racist culture prohi)its psychological health in the )lack man*
For Fanon, )eing colonized )y a language has larger implications for one's
consciousness9 3&o speak * * * means a)ove all to assume a culture, to support the weight
of a civilization3 !:-!;%* Speaking French means that one accepts, or is coerced into
accepting, the collective consciousness of the French, which identifies )lackness with
evil and sin* /n an attempt to escape the association of )lackness with evil, the )lack man
dons a white mask, or thinks of himself as a universal su)8ect e+ually participating in a
society that advocates an e+uality supposedly a)stracted from personal appearance*
<ultural values are internalized, or 3epidermalized3 into consciousness, creating a
fundamental dis8uncture )etween the )lack man's consciousness and his )ody* =nder
these conditions, the )lack man is necessarily alienated from himself*
Fanon insists, however, that the category 3white3 depends for its sta)ility on its negation,
3)lack*3 >either e5ists without the other, and )oth come into )eing at the moment of
imperial con+uest* &hus, Fanon locates the historical point at which certain psychological
formations )ecame possi)le, and he provides an important analysis of how historically-
)ound cultural systems, such as the ?rientalist discourse 'dward Said descri)es, can
perpetuate themselves as psychology* While Fanon charts the psychological oppression of
)lack men, his )ook should not )e taken as an accurate portrait of the oppression of )lack
women under similar conditions* &he work of feminists in postcolonial studies undercuts
Fanon's simplistic and unsympathetic portrait of the )lack woman's complicity in
colonization*
/n !"#., Fanon )ecame ,ead of the @sychiatry 2epartment at the Blida-1oinville
,ospital in 4lgeria, where he instituted reform in patient care and desegregated the
wards* 2uring his tenure in Blida, the war for 4lgerian independence )roke out, and
Fanon was horrified )y the stories of torture his patients -- )oth French torturers and
4lgerian torture victims -- told him* &he 4lgerian War consolidated Fanon's alienation
from the French imperial viewpoint, and in !"#( he formally resigned his post with the
French government to work for the 4lgerian cause* ,is letter of resignation encapsulates
his theory of the psychology of colonial domination, and pronounces the colonial mission
incompati)le with ethical psychiatric practice9 3/f psychiatry is the medical techni+ue that
aims to ena)le man no longer to )e a stranger to his environment, / owe it to myself to
affirm that the 4ra), permanently an alien in his own country, lives in a state of a)solute
depersonalization* * * * &he events in 4lgeria are the logical conse+uence of an a)ortive
attempt to decere)ralize a people3 &oward the 4frican Aevolution #.%*
Following his resignation, Fanon fled to &unisia and )egan working openly with the
4lgerian independence movement* /n addition to seeing patients, Fanon wrote a)out the
movement for a num)er of pu)lications, including Sartre's 0es &emps Modernes,
@resence 4fricaine, and the F0> newspaper el Moud8ahid6 some of his work from this
period was collected posthumously as &oward the 4frican Aevolution !"(-%* But
Fanon's work for 4lgerian independence was not confined to writing* 2uring his tenure
as 4m)assador to Bhana for the @rovisional 4lgerian Bovernment, he worked to
esta)lish a southern supply route for the 4lgerian army*
While in Bhana, Fanon developed leukemia, and though encouraged )y friends to rest, he
refused* ,e completed his final and most fiery indictment of the colonial condition, &he
Wretched of the 'arth, in !C months, and the )ook was pu)lished )y 1ean-@aul Sartre in
the year of his death* Fanon died at the >ational /nstitutes of ,ealth in Bethesda,
Maryland, where he had sought treatment for his cancer, on 2ecem)er (, !"(!* 4t his
re+uest, his )ody was returned to 4lgeria and )uried with honors )y the 4lgerian
>ational 4rmy of 0i)eration*
/n &he Wretched of the 'arth, Fanon develops the Manichean perspective implicit in
BSWM* &o overcome the )inary system in which )lack is )ad and white is good, Fanon
argues that an entirely new world must come into )eing* &his utopian desire, to )e
a)solutely free of the past, re+uires total revolution, 3a)solute violence3 .:%* Diolence
purifies, destroying not only the category of white, )ut that of )lack too* 4ccording to
Fanon, true revolution in 4frica can only come from the peasants, or 3fellaheen*3 @utting
peasants at the vanguard of the revolution reveals the influence of the F0>, who )ased
their operations in the countryside, on Fanon's thinking* Furthermore, this emphasis on
the rural underclass highlights Fanon's disgust with the greed and politicking of the
comprador )ourgeoisie in new 4frican nations* &he )rand of nationalism espoused )y
these classes, and even )y the ur)an proletariat, is insufficient for total revolution )ecause
such classes )enefit from the economic structures of imperialism* Fanon claims that non-
agrarian revolutions end when ur)an classes consolidate their own power, without
remaking the entire system* /n his faith in the 4frican peasantry as well as his emphasis
on language, Fanon anticipates the work of >gugi Wa &hiong'o, who finds revolutionary
artistic power among the peasants*
Biven Fanon's importance to postcolonial studies, the o)ituaries marking his death were
small6 the two inches of type offered )y &he >ew Eork &imes and 0e Monde
inade+uately descri)e his achievements and role* ,e has )een influential in )oth leftist
and anti-racist political movements, and all of his works were translated into 'nglish in
the decade following his death* ,is work stands as an important influence on current
postcolonial theorists, nota)ly ,omi Bha)ha and 'dward Said*
British director /saac 1ulien's Frantz Fanon9 Black Skin, White Mask !""(% has recently
)een released )y <alifornia >ewsreel* Weaving together interviews with family mem)ers
and friends, documentary footage, readings from Fanon's work, and dramatizations of
crucial moments in his life, the film reveals not 8ust the facts of Fanon's )rief and
remarka)ly eventful life )ut his long and tortuous 8ourney as well* /n the course of the
film, critics Stuart ,all and FranFoise Derges position Fanon's work in his own time and
draw out its implications for our own*
Study Guestions
?n H<oncerning DiolenceI pp* .#-!C(%
!* ,ow does the decolonization process happenJ ,ow does it )eginJ What role do the
masses playJ What role does the )ourgeoisie playJ What role does the colonizing power
playJ
$* Why does this process necessitate violenceJ
?n H&he @itfalls of >ational <onsciousnessI pp* !-;-$C#%
!* Why does Fanon consider third world national consciousness to )e Honly an empty
shellI rather than an empowering, li)erating, and legitimate Hmo)ilization of the peopleIJ
$* '5plain the various reasons for this failure Fanon ela)orates in this chapter, focusing
on the role of the middle class or )ourgeoisie* !* What should a native 3authentic national
middle class3 do after the colony in which its mem)ers live gains its independenceJ But
what tends to happen instead, and whyJ
.* <haracterize the stagnation and decadence that, according to Fanon, play themselves
out in post-colonial regimes at the hands of the national )ourgeoisie* See the remarks
a)out 0atin 4merica*
-* ,ow, according to Fanon, does colonialist power affect the economy of nations it
colonizesJ ,ow do the factors enumerated make abstract ideas a)out unity and 3national
fronts3 futileJ
#* ,ow do the former colonial powers step in and e5ploit reactionary religious and racial
tendencies for their own )enefitJ
(* ,ow, according to Fanon, may a former colony avoid or overcome the post-colonial
corruption and decadence he has )een descri)ingJ*
?n H?n >ational <ultureI pp* $C(-$-"%
!* What does Fanon see as the necessary characteristics of national cultureJ 2iscuss the
role of the people and their oral culture in national culture* Eou may want to consider
FanonKs discussion of Leita Fode)aKs H4frican BalletI as an e5ample of national culture
for him* See pp $$:-$.$%*
$* ,ow, according to Fanon, does colonial domination disrupt national culture, and on
what unproductive paths does such disruption lead colonized artists and intellectualsJ
.* What )ecomes necessary, according to Fanon, as the national consciousness of a
colonized people maturesJ Why is it a mistake to 3give new values to native culture
within the framework of colonial dominationJ3
-* What is the relationship )etween the struggle for national sovereignty and a people's
cultureJ
#* ,ow, according to Fanon, is nationalist struggle and the cultural production associated
with it at the same time internationalist and universalizingJ
(* What drives native people more and more to 3organized revolt3, and what effects do
the tensions that surface have upon the natives' cultureJ ,ow do such tensions affect the
various kinds of artistic production and artisanshipJ ,ow do they affect literary genresJ