Analysis: A Macat Analysis of Frantz Fanon's The Wretched of the Earth

by Riley Quinn

Published in 1961, the year of Frantz Fanon's death, The Wretched of the Earth is both a powerful analysis of the psychological effects of colonization and a rallying cry for violent uprising and independence.

The book rejects colonial assumptions that the people of colonized countries need to be guided by their European colonizers because they are somehow less evolved or civilized. Fanon argues that violence is justified to purge colonialism not just from the countries themselves, but from the very souls of their inhabitants, who have been so damaged by its abuses.

According to Fanon, it is the poor above all who need to rebel if real change is to come, because the indigenous middle classes will just produce a society very similar to the old one. And after revolution, the new country should aspire to make real improvements in the lives of the worst off through education and investment.

The Wretched of the Earth became an inspiration for many liberation struggles around the world after Fanon's death, and continues to be a key text in postcolonial studies.

Genres: Nonfiction, Sociology

Audible Audio

Published July 19, 2016

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Reviews

[Jacquelyn Fusco · Rating 5 out of 5]

NYC DSA book club is reading Fanon's book and I thought about attending virtually but didn't commit. I was still curious, so I looked up the audio book and found this (the actual book is on my holds shelf, estimated to be ready in about 7 weeks).
Since I haven't read the book, I can't say how well it summarized it, but it seemed to be well organized and give a good overview.
It made me even more curious about the subject matter.
I would be interested in Macat Analysis of other books that are maybe too long or written in a way that's hard for me to focus on or comprehend. It's not the same as reading the material, but it's something as opposed to nothing.

[Drew Edwards · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent, brief study guide to accompany Frantz Fanon’s legendary “The Wretched of the Earth”. I found it essential in studying Fanon’s work outside the constructs of a formal academic setting. It not only consolidates and contextualizes the essential ideas of the text, but places them within the larger contemporary conversation on post-colonialism, power, culture, and trauma.

[Cait · Rating 4 out of 5]

I meant to check out the wretched of the earth itself but ended up with this inadvertently; in spite of the error, this def helped me to more deeply understand fanon’s work in terms of content, context, implication, influence, & response.

[William · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fine primer, but I was hoping it would give me more contextual framework for The Wretched of the Earth than it did. It felt like a SparkNotes analysis: by all means incredibly useful, but superficial.