Franz Fanon?

[Flying Purple People Eater]

Does anyone have some book recommendations on this guy? What are your opinions on him and his politics?

I would very much appreciate some feedback.

[GiantMonkeyMan]

I've recently read his book Wretched of the Earth which I found very interesting. It's essentially a book about how the colonised people react to the colonisers and how decolonisation develops. He's particularly interested in violence and the justification (or, perhaps, the lack of needing to justify violence in decolonisation due to it being a completely rational response to the violence of the colonisers) of violent actions to aid decolonisation. I find the historic period of decolonisation fascinating and he put a lot of the chaos of decolonisation into perspective for me. Here's a couple quotes I thought were good so collected:

"All those speeches seem like collections of dead words; those values which seemed to uplift the soul are revealed as worthless, simply because they have nothing to do with the concrete conflict in which the people is engaged."

"In capitalist societies the educational system, whether lay or clerical, the structure of moral reflexes handed down from father to son, the exemplary honesty of workers who are given a medal after fifty years of good and loyal service and the affection which springs from harmonious relations and good behaviour - all these aesthetic expressions of respect for the established order serve to create around the exploited person an atmosphere of submission and of inhibition which lightens the task of policing considerably. In the capitalist countries a multitude of moral teachers, counsellors and 'bewilderers' separate the exploited from those in power. In colonial countries, on the contrary, the policeman and the soldier, by their immediate presence and their frequent and direct action maintain contact with the native and advise him by means of rifle-butts and napalm not to budge. It is obvious here that the agents of government speak the language of pure force."

"Colonialism and imperialism have not paid their score when they withdraw their flags and their police forces from our territories. For centuries the capitalists have behaved in the under-developed world like nothing more than war criminals."

"The cafés are forgotten; so are the arguments about the next elections or the spitefulness of some policeman or other. Their ears hear the true voice of the country, and their eyes take in the great and infinite poverty of their people."

"The people come to understand that wealth is not the fruit of labour but the result of organised, protected robbery. Rich people are no longer respectable people; they are nothing more than flesh-eating animals, jackals and vultures which wallow in the people's blood."

"Everybody will have to be compromised in the fight for the common good. No one has clean hands; there are no innocents and onlookers. We all have dirty hands; we are soiling them in the swamps of our country and in the terrifying emptiness of our brains. Every onlooker is either a coward or a traitor."

Would totally recommend it, it's worth reading.

[Ceallach_the_Witch]

When I read this I honestly wondered if it was for fan-fiction about Franz Ferdinand and WWI

[Entfremdung]

When I read this I honestly wondered if it was for fan-fiction about Franz Ferdinand and WWI
FFS.

I read Wretched of the Earth years ago. The thing I mostly remember were the psychological case studies at the end of the book of people on both sides of the Algerian conflict. Very interesting. He was a psychiatrist by profession, born in Martinique and living and working in French Algeria.

[bcbm]

he is one of the most important theorists of the third world revolutions of the 50's onwards, definitely worth a read. as mentioned 'the wretched of the earth' is his classic, but i'd recommend his other works as well, they are all interesting.


When I read this I honestly wondered if it was for fan-fiction about Franz Ferdinand and WWI

why would you even post this? dont post this

[Os Cangaceiros]

I read on his wiki page that the CIA flew him somewhere so he could get medical treatment. I thought that was interesting, wonder how that came about.

[The Garbage Disposal Unit]

Frantz, for the record.

I also read the The Wretched Of The Earth over the summer and recommend it highly, at the very least for its historical importance.

I've also heard strong praise for Black Skin, White Masks from friends whose political work and outlook I respect, but haven't read it myself. I have a friend who is taking a course on Fanon this semester, so maybe I'll ask her some questions and post again.

[Entfremdung]

I read on his wiki page that the CIA flew him somewhere so he could get medical treatment. I thought that was interesting, wonder how that came about.
The US supported Algerian independence as a matter of principle. I guess they were hoping to 'liberate' Algeria's vast oil reserves and replace French dominance of the market. As it turned out Algeria followed an authoritarian Soviet-based Arab-nationalist road.

[blake 3:17]

I'm an admirer.

Black Skin, White Masks and Wretched of the Earth are both great. The former is both more accessible and disturbing in certain ways -- maybe more disturbing for some of us white folks that don't understand the experience of racism at all.

The Wretched of the Earth is a harder read, and to be read properly needs lots of extra reading/lessons, but is probably where he is most borrowed from.

The film on him by Isaac Julien is pretty good: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116357/

I've been quite influenced in funny ways by Henry Louis Gates' reading of Fanon. Here's a link to an essay by Gates on him that I admit I haven't read: http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/1343794?uid=3739448&uid=2&uid=3737720&uid=4&sid=21103003338293 (On a very selfish level I'm bookmarking for myself...)

Friends might appreciate these comments from Brother Mumia: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLbzkQXU4SQ