hello comrades here we shall be discussing The Wretched of the earth preface and chapter one On Violence i was gonna write my own summry for yall but this summary and analysis i found would serve you all better than what I could write this morning, my sincere apoligies I wiil start us off with some optional question promts!
what did you think of satare’s preface?
what does Fanon mean by “replacing one species with another”?
who is the colonized intellectual? what role does he serve?
what does Fanon say about nationalist reformist movements? what are their failings?
why must decolonization be total and all encompassing?
why is the allocation of instruments of force important? I also want to encourage everyone to try to make critique of the reading.
these are just a few things to get the ball rolling, please let me know what I can do better! Please keep commenting and contributing to this thread through out the week for those of you not caught up, this isnt school there is no late work, in fact i hope people come back to these threads many times to see other comrades thoughts. lastly it seems like you guys really like the summary and study guide I found so I will keep using it in future post (its pretty cool its like sparknotes)
English translation by Richard Philcox – https://ia801708.us.archive.org/3/items/the-wretched-of-the-earth/The Wretched Of The Earth.pdf – you'd be reading from page 42 to 311 of this PDF, 270 pages
English translation by Constance Farrington – https://abahlali.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Frantz-Fanon-The-Wretched-of-the-Earth-1965.pdf
Original French text – https://monoskop.org/images/9/9d/Fanon_Frantz_Les_damnés_de_la_terre_2002.pdf
English audio version – https://inv.tux.pizza/playlist?list=PLZ_8DduHfUd2r1OOCtKh0M6Q9xD5RaR3S – about 12h20m – Alternative links
It’s been a while since I’ve read it, but I remember Sartre’s preface being more inflammatory and purposely aggressive than Fanon’s actual writing.
To me, Sartre really stabs at the Western person’s fear of being displaced (figuratively) by the colonized. The way he speaks about it really reminds me of how the right was really obsessed with c*ck shit a few years back.
Fanon, on the other hand, doesn’t seem concerned with the reactions of liberal Westerners at all, which I think is consistent with the message of his book.
Edit: I’ve always thought George Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant” is a great companion piece to “Wretched of the Earth” because it gives a good window into the imperialist mind when faced with Fanon’s thesis.
would you say that sartres more inflammatory and eurocentric approach is a valuable addition to the book? Ive never been on Orwell fan but maybe ill check that one out for a peek into the the colonizer mind.
Hm, I don’t know. I figure that a large amount of the people reading it are Euro-minded, so having something to activate them at the beginning might not be a bad idea. I think it does a good job of targeting western insecurity.
From a purely sensationalist view, I guess it accomplishes something, but from a real substantive view? No, I don’t think it really adds something to what Fanon is writing. If I were being uncharitable, I might even say it misrepresents Fanon’s argument.
I like your overall assessment. Personally i struggle with just how much we should be holding white peoples hands, when it comes to these things. Perhaps it is a valuable undertaking (thats just not for me).