The Wretched of the Earth
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The Wretched of the Earth description
Frantz Fanon (1925-61) was a Martinique-born black psychiatrist and anticolonialist intellectual; The Wretched of the Earth is considered by many to be one of the canonical books on the worldwide black liberation struggles of the 1960s. Within a Marxist framework, using a cutting and nonsentimental writing style, Fanon draws upon his horrific experiences working in Algeria during its war of independence against France. He addresses the role of violence in decolonization and the challenges of political organization and the class collisions and questions of cultural hegemony in the creation and maintenance of a new country's national consciousness. As Fanon eloquently writes, "[T]he unpreparedness of the educated classes, the lack of practical links between them and the mass of the people, their laziness, and, let it be said, their cowardice at the decisive moment of the struggle will give rise to tragic mishaps." Although socialism has seemingly collapsed in the years since Fanon's work was first published, there is much in his look into the political, racial, and social psyche of the ever-emerging Third World that still rings true at the cusp of a new century. --Eugene Holley, Jr. |
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The Wretched of the Earth Customer Reviews
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♥♥♥♥♥
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Revolutionary Literature with a Pulse
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Frantz Fanon's political commentary on colonization is the perfect example of revolutionary literature with a pulse.
It explores the entire ordeal of colonization: from the early pangs of colonized animosity, to armed rebellion, to the destruction of the colonial bourgeoisie, all the way up to the psychological effects of colonial warfare. Fanon asserts that for the colonized: "To live simply means not to die. To exist means staying alive." Thus, it can be inferred that Fanon's portrayal of the Algerian Revolution is one that deals with individuals stripped of the human faculties of identity and forced simply as human beings to exist in the sense of breathing: a morbid assertion at best.
The entire book thrives on the notion that, in order to harness a sense of social identity among the "wretched of the earth," or the colonized masses, it is imperative that violence, or any other possible means, be used to destroy the colonialist foreignors (specifically, in Fanon's case, the French colonists in Algeria). Jean Paul Sartre, who wrote the controversial preface to the Wretched of the Earth, asserts that the only thing keeping the predominantly dehumanized wretch humanized is his desire to kill the colonist, to take his place (an idea also asserted by Fanon himself). Fanon does an excellent job merging the different ideals espoused by the respective sections of the colonized movement, including the urban proletariat, the lumpenproletariat, the tribal leaders, and the colonized intellectual, who Fanon holds in contempt for submission to Western thought (though he later asserts that the intellectual can regain his bearing in the liberation movement if he/she integrates with his/her brethren in the mountains and villages).
The work extensively examines the economic portion of decolonization, and demonstrares Fanon's vehement support for a redistribution of wealth and a unification of resources in order to distribute among the people seeming trivialities, such as grapes and other commodities previously witheld by the colonizer. The memorable conclusion demonstrates Fanon's ideals in his call for the Third World to create a distinct delineation between itself and Europe in order "to create a new man."
Overall, the Wretched of the Earth is one man's cry for a Third World reawakening delivered in miltantly abrasive prose that still resonates to this day. |
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