Frantz Fanon 1925 – 1961
Frantz Fanon was a Martinican-born psychiatrist, philosopher, and revolutionary whose work has been foundational for postcolonial theory. Trained in France and posted as a psychiatrist in colonial Algeria, he came to support the Algerian struggle for independence and resigned to write openly against the colonial order. Black Skin, White Masks examined the psychological deformations imposed by racism, while The Wretched of the Earth analyzed colonial violence and the demands of national liberation. He died of leukemia at the age of thirty-six, shortly before Algerian independence.
Key facts
- Nationality
- Martinican-French
- Era
- Contemporary
- Movements
- Postcolonial Philosophy, Critical Theory
Selected quotes
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Attributed to Frantz Fanon:
“Each generation must, out of relative obscurity, discover its mission, fulfill it, or betray it.”
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Attributed to Frantz Fanon:
“Imperialism leaves behind germs of rot which we must clinically detect and remove from our land but from our minds as well.”
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Attributed to Frantz Fanon:
“I am not a prisoner of history. I should not seek there for the meaning of my destiny.”
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Attributed to Frantz Fanon:
“Sometimes people hold a core belief that is very strong. When they are presented with evidence that works against that belief, the new evidence cannot be accepted.”
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Attributed to Frantz Fanon:
“To speak a language is to take on a world, a culture.”