Wretched of the Earth: Fanon on Violence

Fanon, F., Sartre, J.-P. and Bhabha, H. (2005). The Wretched of the earth: On Violence. Translated by C. Farrington. Greenwich Village, New York, United States: Grove Press, pp.61–120.

The Wretched of the Earth, also known as Les Damnés de La Terre was written by Frantz Fanon, a Martinican psychiatrist, philosopher and Marxist revolutionary. The title is derived from the opening verse of L’Internationale (The Internationale) which is a call to action for the oppressed to stand up against the despots who marginalise and oppress them (Pottier, 2020). In his book, he uses psychoanalysis as a way to understand how colonialism dehumanises both the individual and the nation while setting this on the fore of Algerian colonisation. Fanon wrote this book not just as a study of decolonization and a critique of both liberal and Marxist European thought , but also as a manifesto for colonised subjects to violently resist in order to reshape the nation in their own image as well as create a ‘new humanism’ one based on inclusion.

In the chapter titled ‘Concerning Violence’, Fanon posits that violence is the only viable pathway to decolonisation. Fanon first posits that with a violent path to decolonization, it entails a fundamental transformation within the subconscious of the colonized individual, and that this transformation engenders a sense of apprehension among the colonizers. In his eyes, decolonization is a tabula rasa, an opportunity for the destruction of the old in order to create a seamless transition into the creation of new men (Fanon, Sartre and Bhabha, 2005, p.62). Fanon also writes that true liberation will not come from colonised intellectuals and elites, for they serve their own interests as an individual which inherently ignores the liberation and interests of the collective (Fanon, Sartre and Bhabha, 2005, p.82).

Decolonization is not only a destruction of the ways of the colonizer, but also a destruction of the colonial world, one that is compartmentalized and Manchiean. This makes it impossible for these two worlds to coexist. In order for the colonizer to assert dominance, even in the colonized world, is through ‘cannons and machines’ (Fanon, Sartre and Bhabha, 2005, p.65). The colonized’s world is heavily policed by the violent actor of colonialism: the police officer or the armed forces. Since violence is the natural state of colonial authority and is introduced into the colonizer’s thoughts and homes, Fanon writes that the aggression channeled must be directed towards the perpetrators of this violence: the colonisers themselves.

Decolonization is not only a destruction of the ways of the colonizer, but also a destruction of the colonial world, one that is compartmentalized and Manchiean. This makes it impossible for these two worlds to coexist. In order for the colonizer to assert dominance, even in the colonized world, is through ‘cannons and machines’ (Fanon, Sartre and Bhabha, 2005, p.65). The colonized’s world is heavily policed by the violent actor of colonialism: the police officer or the armed forces. Since violence is the natural state of colonial authority and is introduced into the colonizer’s thoughts and homes, Fanon writes that the aggression channeled must be directed towards the perpetrators of this violence: the colonisers themselves.

This is because armed aggression provides the coloniser with strength, and the only way to diminish the coloniser and their sphere of control is to speak the coloniser’s language: violence. It is worth noting that Fanon is ambivalent about violence. He regards violence as a necessity, not something to be glorified. He also sees violence as a cleaning force for “it rids the colonized of their inferiority complex, of their passive and despairing attitude. It emboldens them, and restores their self-confidence.” (Fanon, Sartre and Bhabha, 2005, p.110). Despite this ambivalence, subjects of colonialism and their violent resistance should not be bound to the same constructs of morality and ethics

Although his call for all humanity to take up arms ignores the travails of women who fought in the Algerian resistance and many other armed resistance movements, Fanon’s work can be viewed as a wake-up call for all individuals, including both colonised subjects and the common European, to refrain from engaging in the irresponsible game of Sleeping Beauty (Fanon, Sartre and Bhabha, 2005, p.119). As the title of the book suggests, the Wretched of the Earth, who were once nothing, will become everything once the slate of the past is erased (Pottier, 2020).

This essay was for a module: Postcolonial Theory which was convened by Dr Gaik Cheng Khoo