On National Culture

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The chapter “On National Culture” from Wretched if the Heart particularly struck out to me because it challenges the construction of the legitimacy of a modern nation state- the constant and tedious reliance on culture and tradition by political parties in order to create a narrative that binds together several peoples of different regions, ethnicities and so on. Fanon begins this chapter by explaining economic imperialism; “We now know that in the first phase of the colonialism attempts to defuse national lating economic doctrine...by acknowledging with ostentatious territory is suffering from serious underdevelopment that requires major social and economic reforms.” (146). This passage highlights the modern day debate on the repercussions of international organizations such as the World Bank and the IMF, and their ability to exercise sovereignty over states. Fanon correctly predicts that this independence and ‘freedom’ that the colonized countries are fighting for is just an illusion- the futility of this prospect lies in the economic violence that the West inflicts on the Global South. As a result, overt imperialism is replaced with more covert methods including tariffs, special economic zones such as CPEC, and so on.

Fanon, in this chapter warns the reader against the myths and false promises of the nationalist elites, especially their reliance on culture. The colonized individual is more often than not obsessed with culture because he has no understanding of what, or perhaps who he even is without the veil of colonization. This colonial hangover then pours into the understanding of their culture. There is a constant need to hark back to a glorious past in order to not only find refuge in but also create an identity from their past. In this way, the colonised individual uses the same tools as the coloniser to understand himself, which becomes a paradox. Culture and tradition then becomes immensely important in his everyday life, which is very dangerous. This is because culture is not susceptible to change over time- one becomes stuck in the fossilized remains the past, and society is then completely closed off from dynamisnm and change.

Through this nationalist elites use and appropriate history- society is stuck in a rut and culture and tradition is used as a distraction from delivering the promises of freedom. This focus on culture reiify and remystifies fantasies, because of which the colonized country is stuck in a cycle of “catching up” with the rest of the developed world. In this way, countries who have actually achieved decoloisation are still culturally colonised because to Fanon, decolonisation is the creation of a completely new being, it is a homecoming. Decolonisation cannot be complete when the instinctive response to a threat is seeking refuge in the past, because then the fruits of the struggle of decolonisation will never be achieved. To Fanon, the fruits of this struggle are new artforms, a changed and  truer sense of self; restoration, and a final, authentic homecoming.