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A review by lottiezeb
The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon
Turns out my reading comprehension has vastly improved since I was a freshman in college. Who'd have thought! A few main takeaways:
‣Revolutionary violence means not a return to the precolonial "Dark Ages" but a reclamation of the humanity that has been stripped away.
‣In newly independent nations the bourgeoisie may simply take over the role of the oppressor and mimic the control and authority of the colonizers. Poorly-developed nationalism with no emphasis on the essential role of the masses is an empty promise and a recipe for failure.
‣The intellectual pursuit of looking to the precolonial culture of the past is not useful because it often stems from a desire to prove a nation's value and humanity to the colonizer. There is no point in this. New culture is formed in the processes of independence and revolution.
‣Revolutionary violence means not a return to the precolonial "Dark Ages" but a reclamation of the humanity that has been stripped away.
‣In newly independent nations the bourgeoisie may simply take over the role of the oppressor and mimic the control and authority of the colonizers. Poorly-developed nationalism with no emphasis on the essential role of the masses is an empty promise and a recipe for failure.
‣The intellectual pursuit of looking to the precolonial culture of the past is not useful because it often stems from a desire to prove a nation's value and humanity to the colonizer. There is no point in this. New culture is formed in the processes of independence and revolution.