Blog 5: Reflections on Fanon

This passage is of interest to me on two accounts. Firstly, for the way it encapsulates the anger of Fanon we so often speak of and secondly, for the description of the colonized.

Anger is a running theme in this text, a theme that one picks up on from the stylistic elements of this text (such as short impactful sentences, the curt finality of tone) and the emphasis on violence as a weapon of reclaiming lost time, identity and a sense of self (although not in the above cited passage).

This passage elucidates that sense of anger and frustration for how it shows the way the colonized land and people are viewed and for how this way of looking at them completely strips them of all dignity. The entire colonized population is viewed in opposition to the colonizers. If the colonizer is the epitome of strength and goodness, the colonized are the picture of weakness and evil. The colonized are "disreputable people" living in a "disreputable place" whereas in the European sector even the trash cans overflow with "...strange and wonderful garbage..." (p.4). Statements and heightened contrasts like these serve the literary purpose of emphasis but also convey the message of anger at the sheer absurdity and unfairness of the “compartmentalized world” that colonization creates to the reader.

Its description of the colonized people is interesting on two levels- first, for how in crass terms it gives an insight into the way the colonizer sees the colonized without the veneer of the civilizing narrative or any attempts to cloak sheer prejudice. The colonized are seen as hungry, envious, and lustful without any pretense. 

Secondly, I am intrigued by the following line:

"...And it's true there is not one colonized subject who at least once a day does not dream of taking the place of the colonist."

This sheds light on the phenomenon of how colonization can make one feel in exile in their own home, that native populations who are born and raised on that land no longer feel a claim to it. The claim to it lies with the colonizer, who perplexingly, the colonized wishes at times to be. This statement shows the devastation colonization causes to ones sense of dignity and ones understanding of belonging. The colonized individual is not in sync with him/herself anymore and aspires to "be in their place", which is part true and a cause of their immense frustration and disenfranchisement and in part a reflection of the colonizers anxieties about their rule.

For me, the concept of emancipation from colonization to be seen as a complete restoration of the self becomes clear. Even though this is not explicitly clearly stated in this particular passage, but understanding the general arch of the text allows me to place this passage in the broader theme of importance of resistance and a project of emancipation that is deeply personal. I also feel like this concept of the colonized wanting to be like the colonizer or in their place is something I could apply to the context of Pakistan and the subcontinents history of colonization. British rule did undeniably alter several senses of what it means to be educated, refined, cultured and the colonized, even after 1947, feels stuck with one foot in each camp. Here is where I feel that the interpretation of Fanon's text as understanding decolonization as a ‘coming home’ becomes most relevant. Colonization makes one feel so foreign in their own home, that a decolonization that if according to Fanon is not followed through with particular methods (violence) is incomplete. Fanon is trying to, in my understanding; achieve a decolonization that is comprehensive and one which does not follow into your new lives as individuals and as a people. A common phrase we refer to in urdu “Na yahan ke rahe na wahan ke” is an excellent example of the sort of insecurities and dual identities a colonization that does not emancipate you fully can result in.