With an extraordinary breadth of understanding, Adam Shatz tackles the monumental task of biographing Frantz Fanon. The author must possess an extensive knowledge of various subjects including Martinique and West Indies history, French and European history, Algeria and Africa’s history; as well as psychiatry, existentialism, and Marxism; and racism, imperialism, and decolonisation. Shatz indeed paints a vibrant picture of Fanon’s life, creating a compelling argument for his enduring significance. Few have articulated the lived experience of racism and colonialism – the anger, alienation, and sense of impotence it spawns – as poignantly as Fanon.
Fanon, born in Martinique in 1925, was a child of middle-class parents of African ancestry in a French colony. His fervent faith in “liberty, fraternity, and equality” led him to join the French Resistance. However, his time in the racially segregated French army disillusioned him. Following the war, Fanon’s study of psychiatry in Lyons further exposed France’s deep-seated racial bias. Despite being a war hero and fluent French speaker, his skin colour singled him out. His work with North African immigrants further exposed the inherent racism in medicine, diagnosing them with “North African syndrome,” revoking their genuine health issues and labelling them as lazy or whiny. Fanon, however, recognised that their health was compromised by the oppressive system they lived under. His ground-breaking work, “Black Skin, White Masks”, published in 1952, analysed the deep-seated psychological damage caused by racism, still a relevant analysis today.
In his medical practice, Fanon challenged the traditional psychiatric model of patient confinement. He advocated for his patients’ freedom of movement within the hospital, promoted social interaction, and encouraged the patients’ involvement in decision making. This revolutionary approach was gleaned from Saint-Alban hospital in Southern France. He brought this with him when he took charge of a psychiatric hospital in Algeria in 1952.
The Rebel’s Clinic: The Revolutionary Lives of Frantz Fanon serves as a testament to his fight against racial and colonial oppression.
Fanon, unknowingly, had relocated to a nation on the brink of uprising. Living under brutal French colonisation since the 1830s was Algeria, which was officially deemed a French sector. Its heavily populated Muslim residents experienced oppression at the hands of the dominant white settlers who held all political and economic power. Fanon had experienced life in Algeria for less than a calendar year before the National Liberation Front (FLN) initiated an armed rebellion that sparked an intense and horrific war. As the FLN turned to terrorism, the French reciprocated with the use of torture and unlawful killings, coined “disappearings”, and subjected villagers to internment camps.
In his capacity as a medical professional, Fanon was exposed to the horror of the conflict. He was tasked with healing both the individuals causing torture and those on the receiving end. However, he also discovered an overwhelming political calling. Disturbed by French racial discrimination, he instinctively aligned himself with the rebels, turning his medical facility into a place of safety for FLN fighters.
In 1957, Fanon joined other FLN figureheads in fleeing to Tunisia. Here, he established the first ever psychiatric day clinic in Africa, operating a system where patients would return to their homes each evening. He ascended to a prominent role as a representative for the Algerian revolution. Embracing his black heritage, he served as the informal FLN representative to sub-Saharan Africa, ultimately moulding him into a proponent of a pan-African revolution.
Fanon viewed the Algerian protest as a liberation from patriarchal dominance and colonial rule. He advocated for the creation of a democratic, multicultural society where citizenship was open to everyone. However, the majority of FLN leaders had different goals, as they were religious populists rather than secular leftists. The FLN was also a clandestine and authoritative force. Consequently, Fanon lived in perpetual fear for his life should he disobey the organisation’s strict order.
Just before achieving independence in 1962, Algeria lost Fanon to leukaemia while he was just 36 years old. Despite his untimely death, Fanon’s significant work, The Wretched of the Earth, an integral text advocating against colonialism, continues to be widely studied. Known for propounding the idea of anticolonial violence as a route to psychological liberation for the oppressed victims of colonisation, Fanon also highlighted the mental trauma such violence could inflict on its executors while underscoring that “hatred does not form a strategy”.
In his pivotal book, Wretched, Fanon not only vociferously denounced colonialism but also astutely foresaw how independence would not automatically translate into liberation. He warned that political emancipation wouldn’t eradicate economic subjugation imposed by global capitalists. Additionally, he cautioned about leaders who might exploit anti-colonial sentiments to consolidate power and resources for themselves.
According to Shatz, it’s essential to approach Fanon with both critique and admiration. It’s also crucial to consider his writings in the context of the distinct historical era in which he lived. Nevertheless, Fanon still holds relevance in present times as “the racial segregation and economic disparities he resisted were not eradicated but merely reshaped”. Consequently, it’s unsurprising that many anti-racism campaigners hail Fanon as a symbol and feel a connection to his precisely because he strived for a world devoid of domination.
Daniel Geary, the Mark Pigott Associate Profesor in American history at Trinity College Dublin, provides these insights.