The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon

Greetings, this blog post is crafted in response to the thinking activity assigned by Megha ma'am on the non-fiction text The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon.

Frantz Fanon a psychiatrist, thinker, writer and a philosopher was one of the earliest propagators of post-colonial studies. He was born at Martinique during the French colonial era. He is often considered as one of most influential black writer and anti-colonialist in the history of postcolonialism. His writing also influenced number of later generation writers like Edward Said and his acclaimed work Orientalism (which is probably influenced by concept of Manichaeism) James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Ralph Ellison, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, bell hooks, Wole Soyinka, Aime Cesaire, and Amiri Baraka.

His works include Black Skin, White Mask (1952), A Dying Colonialism (1959), A Wretched of the Earth (1961), and Towards the African Revolution (1964).

What is the role of violence in colonialism with reference to the wretched of Earth?

Throughout his life, Fanon strove to decolonize the black people not only in his birthplace Martinique, and South Africa but for all the black identity across the globe. His book The Wretched of the Earth was originally written in French language and later it was translated into English language. In this work Fanon acknowledges the role of violence in the process of decolonization from their masters. 

Fanon makes it clear from the beginning that colonial rule is violent, extreme, and racist. It does not allow any form of communication or dialogue between the colonizers and the oppressed people.

According to Fanon, the whole process of colonialism is deeply rooted in violence and military regime, and to come out of that we must use the same weapon of violence against the white peoples. Fanon also got the inspiration from Sartre's existentialism thoughts about how an individual can construct themselves. Sartre mentions these lines in his preface to the text that, 

"You are making us into monstrosities; your humanism claims we are at one with the rest of humanity but your racist methods set us apart."

Fanon deeply criticized the superficiality of white people about humanism. At one point Europeans preaches the ways of humility and brotherhood and on the contrary they are doing violence on the native people. Sartre also discusses at length about violence in the preface that violence is used mainly to take control over the native people. White people considers black as their commodity and they exploit both the people and natural resources. This kind of cyclical nature of violence and oppression was routine for native peoples. Violence is inflicted not only on the bodies of the colonized but also on their minds, targeting their thoughts, beliefs, and identity.

"a sly-boots, a lazybones and a thief, who lives on nothing, and who understands only violence."

Because of the deep-rooted and systemic nature of colonial domination, Fanon argues that liberation from colonialism can only be achieved through violent means, involving intense and bloody struggles, with "red-hot cannonballs and bloody knives." And at last, native people started to unite and gave a bitter and violent response to the European masters which Fanon puts it as "after a murderous and decisive confrontation between the two protagonists.” 

"no gentleness can efface the marks of violence; only violence itself can destroy them."

Violence in the colonies is not just used to keep the enslaved people under control. Its goal is also to strip away their humanity, making them feel less than human. Everything will be done to erase their traditions, replace their language with white masters, and destroy their culture. According to Sartre, the violence is at first not recognized by natives, they are very much terrified of it. But it is stored deep down in their psyche, and at last they return back their violence on their masters.  

According to Fanon, 

“to destroy the colonial world means nothing less than demolishing the colonist's sector, burying it deep within the earth or banishing it from the territory.”

In his opinion, to successfully decolonize ourselves we have to jeopardize the existing colonies which is the symbol of violence, racism, and physical and psychological mental agony. And have to bury it deep down in Earth from which it can never stem and harm anyone. He also emphasizes that violent resistance has positive effects both psychologically, by making strong minds of the rebels, and politically, by paving the way to create a new society that ultimately leads to the new political unity. If the native do not achieve independence by the means of violence they may have to suffer from neocolonialism which is merely handing of the power and the oppression of natives would be continue at the hands of the bourgeoisie class. 

What Kind of Violence? Who Will Be Ready For It?

By counter violence Fanon surely does not mean that native should wage armed war against the white master because it would be of no use since they will obviously have more weapons and ammunitions. Moreover, Nationalist parties that represent the working-class citizens and the lower bourgeoisie are especially hesitant to follow the revolution because they have something to lose. These include laborers, small shop owners, and artisans who can earn out a living within the colonial system. They focus on improving their wages and living conditions rather than seeking radical change. As a result, these nationalist parties are not true revolutionary forces and would be satisfied with gaining some power within the existing system.  

Fanon argues that, peasants mases, rural class people which he calls lumpenproletariat. He suggests using guerrilla warfare, sabotage, attacks, and disruptive actions to harm trade and make production in colonized areas costly. He believes this strategy would work because it would hurt the colonizers' main goal to exploiting the colonized land and making sure its people buy the products made by the colonizers' industries.

What is the national bourgeoisie and why does Fanon think it is “useless”?

National bourgeoisie are products of colonization, they are native people but are heavily influenced by their colonial masters. These individuals imitate and mimic the ways of their white masters. This group includes those from the business class, the urban proletariat, and shopkeepers, who often occupy privileged positions in the colonized world. They have little to lose whether the current power of the white master remains or not, as they continue to benefit financially from their relationship with colonial authorities. 

In contrast, the lumpenproletariat, or those from the lower strata, suffer far more. Fanon argues that these peasant-class individuals can be used against the bourgeoisie as "spearheads."

"the peasants must throw their bourgeoisie overboard"

Moreover, to succeed  a national revolution needs to be socialist. If it fails or if the local business class gains control, the new government, even if it appears independent, will still be under the influence of imperialists. And this imperialist people will exploit native people in the same manner as the white colonialist. That is the reason why Fanon believes that they are "useless". 

References

Fanon, Frantz. “Preface to Frantz Fanon's Wretched of the Earth by Jean-Paul Sartre.” Marxists Internet Archive, https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/sartre/1961/preface.htm. Accessed 28 October 2024.

Fanon, Frantz. The wretched of the earth. Grove Press, 1963