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A Macat Analysis of Frantz Fanon’s The Wretched of the Earth
Frantz Fanon is one of the most important figures in the history of what is now known as postcolonial studies - the field that examines the meaning and impacts of European colonialism across the world.
Born in the French colony of Martinique, Fanon worked as a psychiatrist in Algeria, another French colony that saw brutal violence during its revolution against French rule. His experiences power the searing indictment of colonialism that is his final book, 1961's The Wretched of the Earth. Fanon's account of the physical and psychological violence of colonialism forms the basis of a passionate, closely reasoned call to arms - a call for violent revolution. Incendiary even today, it was more so in its time; the book first being published during the brutal conflict caused by the Algerian Revolution. Viewed as a profoundly dangerous work by the colonial powers of the world, Fanon's book helped to inspire liberation struggles across the globe.
Though it has flaws, The Wretched of the Earth is above all a testament to the power of passionately sustained and closely reasoned argument: Fanon's presentation of his evidence combines with his passion to produce an argument that it is almost impossible not to be swayed by.
Born in the French colony of Martinique, Fanon worked as a psychiatrist in Algeria, another French colony that saw brutal violence during its revolution against French rule. His experiences power the searing indictment of colonialism that is his final book, 1961's The Wretched of the Earth. Fanon's account of the physical and psychological violence of colonialism forms the basis of a passionate, closely reasoned call to arms - a call for violent revolution. Incendiary even today, it was more so in its time; the book first being published during the brutal conflict caused by the Algerian Revolution. Viewed as a profoundly dangerous work by the colonial powers of the world, Fanon's book helped to inspire liberation struggles across the globe.
Though it has flaws, The Wretched of the Earth is above all a testament to the power of passionately sustained and closely reasoned argument: Fanon's presentation of his evidence combines with his passion to produce an argument that it is almost impossible not to be swayed by.
- GenresNonfictionSociology
100 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 5, 2017
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About the author
Riley Quinn
87 books4 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 20, 2020
This is an excellent, brief study guide to accompany Frantz Fanon’s legendary “The Wretched of the Earth”. I found it essential in studying Fanon’s work outside the constructs of a formal academic setting. It not only consolidates and contextualizes the essential ideas of the text, but places them within the larger contemporary conversation on post-colonialism, power, culture, and trauma.
June 20, 2019
I meant to check out the wretched of the earth itself but ended up with this inadvertently; in spite of the error, this def helped me to more deeply understand fanon’s work in terms of content, context, implication, influence, & response.
September 12, 2022
This was a fine primer, but I was hoping it would give me more contextual framework for The Wretched of the Earth than it did. It felt like a SparkNotes analysis: by all means incredibly useful, but superficial.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews