Fanon and Colonial Violence, Revolutionary Therapy Flashcards
What led Fanon to shift away from the non-violent tone in Black Skin, White Masks to Wretched?
Experiences in Algiers, both as a psychiatrist at Blida-Joinville Psychiatric Hospital and a member of the Algerian National Liberation Front,
How does Fanon view the violence between coloniser and colonised?
decolonisation is the encounter between two congenitally antagonistic forces.
The violence of the colonised is not vengeful but part of a historical dialectic.
How does Fanon see the relationship between coloniser and colonised in terms of violence?
Fanon observes that the coloniser must continually construct an ideological system to maintain their innocence
The settler teaches the native that only violence will be understood, leading the colonised to fight back
What is Fanon’s view on colonial violence and its legitimacy?
Fanon recalls Walter Benjamin’s argument that since the state controls both violence and law, it deems violence against it as illicit.
The settler, who claims to bring law and justice, uses violence, which remains legitimate in their eyes, while violence from the colonised is criminalised.
How does Fanon describe the violence perpetrated by the colonised in the context of liberation?
Fanon sees revolutionary violence as a cleansing force that deconstructs the material and psychological oppression of the colonised. He argues that violence is a means for colonised individuals to engage in collective catharsis, breaking free from their inferiority complex.
What role does violence play in Fanon’s revolutionary therapy?
Fanon believes violence is a cathartic tool for colonised people to reclaim their humanity.
It is restorative and retributive force and helps them realise their equality with the coloniser and expels both the coloniser from the land and from the mind.
How does Fanon view the potential outcomes of decolonisation?
Fanon is optimistic about the potential for armed struggle to bring about decolonisation.
He argues that colonialism, by imposing violence, creates its own demise, with the colonised subject finding their humanity through violent resistance. Evoking Marx.
. For Fanon, ‘it can break out anywhere colonialism intends to stay.’ In a sense, Fanon is evoking Marxist rhetoric in arguing that colonialism fashions its own demise as armed struggle can break out in ‘Somaliland’ to ‘Guinea.’
What is Fanon’s view on the necessity of revolutionary violence in decolonisation?
It is necessary for decolonisation. The violence between coloniser and colonised is not arbitrary but an active historical process.
What is Fanon’s criticism of post-colonial elites and their role in perpetuating colonial systems?
the national bourgeoisie, after independence, ‘discovers its historical mission: that of intermediary’ as they continue to serve colonial interests under the banner of national sovereignty.
They inherit the flawed structures of colonialism after independence.
They are intermediaries, placating anti-colonial sentiment without dismantling the colonial system.
What does Fanon warn will happen without revolutionary violence?
These elites will continue serving colonial interests under the guise of national sovereignty.
he considers nationalist politicians as in danger of becoming demagogues who advocate for ‘compromise’ in lieu of the cleansing force of retributive violence
What does Fanon mean by the ‘tabula rasa’ in post-colonial politics?
Complete rupture from colonial structures. He belies intermediary bourgeoisie cannot be sympathetic because it is complete removal of colonial structures and removing their privileges
What case study does Fanon present to illustrate the psychological consequences of colonial violence? (boys)
In Chapter 5 of Wretched of the Earth, Fanon discusses a case where two Algerian boys murdered a European friend after hearing that Europeans intended to kill all Arabs.
One of the boys, a 14-year-old, refused to speak except to ask why the Europeans who murdered Algerians were not arrested. Fanon interprets this as a result of the irrational violence of the colonial state.
How does Fanon view the psychological effect of violence on the coloniser?
Fanon’s humanism extends to the coloniser as well. He worked with French policemen at Blida-Joinville and treated one who suffered a panic attack after encountering an Algerian patient who had been tortured by him.
How does Fanon discuss the psychological state of French police officers involved in colonial violence?
Fanon treated a French police inspector who was involved in the torture of Algerian revolutionaries. The inspector suffered from a panic attack when encountering an Algerian patient, demonstrating the psychological toll inflicted by colonial violence.
How does Fanon view the relationship between violence and the possibility of neocolonialism?
Fanon argues that revolutionary violence is essential to preventing neocolonialism.
What does Fanon say about the necessity of socialism for the success of national revolutions?
in order to triumph, the national revolution must be socialist.
If not, the new state, despite its formal sovereignty, will remain in the hands of the imperialists.
How does Fanon view the potential for the colonised intellectuals in postcolonial societies?
Fanon believes that the colonised intellectual, pulverised by colonialist culture, will discover the strength of grassroots structures such as village assemblies, people’s commissions, and neighborhood and section committee meetings
How does Fanon describe the passionate struggle involved in postcolonial nation-building?
nation-building process as being “mortar kneaded with blood and rage,”
What is Fanon’s critique of the risk of fetishising national culture?
warning that it can entrench the social divisions of the past, keep rural populations subjugated, and perpetuate hierarchies under new rulers.
He argues against the romanticisation of cultural traditions that could prevent the formation of a genuinely transformative and inclusive national identity.
How does Fanon view Fodéba’s African Dawn in the context of revolutionary culture?
praises Fodéba’s African Dawn for its depiction of a revolutionary culture that looks forward rather than backward.
The poem portrays the historic moment of Guinea’s decolonisation and inspires cultural awakening, providing a powerful vision of revolutionary consciousness that could galvanise postcolonial struggles.
What does Fanon call for in terms of international vision in postcolonial decolonisation?
transnational vision that goes beyond the replacement of colonial rulers. He advocates for the reclamation of the wealth of imperial countries and the creation of a new humanism.
This vision involves reimagining European culture, which he critiques as a product of exploitation, and re-shaping it into a more just and human-centred framework.
How does Fanon connect personal and collective interest in the postcolonial context?
Fanon asserts that personal interest is the collective interest. In the context of postcolonial nation-building, individual liberation and empowerment must be understood as part of the broader struggle for collective freedom and societal transformation.
