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Writers & Readers Documentary Comic Book
Fanon for Beginners
Philosopher, psychoanalyst, politician, propagandist, prophet...although difficult to categorize, Frantz Fanon (1925-1961) is one of the most important thinkers of the 20th century and one of our most powerful writers on race and revolution.
The book opens with a biography, following Fanon from his birthplace of Martinique through combat in World War II and education in France, to his heroic involvement in the fights for Algerian independence and African decolonization. After a brief discussion of Fanon's political and cultural influences, the main section of the book covers the three principal stages of Fanon's thought:
the search for black identity, as presented in Black Skin, White Masks, Fanon's stunning diagnosis of racism
the struggle against colonialism, as explained in "A Dying Colonialism" and "Toward the African Revolution," essays centering on Algeria's war of independence
the process of decolonization, as analyzed in The Wretched of the Earth, the book that extended insights gained in Algeria to Africa and the Third World
Fanon For Beginners concludes by examining Fanon's influence on political practice, such as the Black Power movement in the United States, on literary theory, and on political studies showing how his works and words continue to have a profound impact on contemporary cultural debate.
The book opens with a biography, following Fanon from his birthplace of Martinique through combat in World War II and education in France, to his heroic involvement in the fights for Algerian independence and African decolonization. After a brief discussion of Fanon's political and cultural influences, the main section of the book covers the three principal stages of Fanon's thought:
the search for black identity, as presented in Black Skin, White Masks, Fanon's stunning diagnosis of racism
the struggle against colonialism, as explained in "A Dying Colonialism" and "Toward the African Revolution," essays centering on Algeria's war of independence
the process of decolonization, as analyzed in The Wretched of the Earth, the book that extended insights gained in Algeria to Africa and the Third World
Fanon For Beginners concludes by examining Fanon's influence on political practice, such as the Black Power movement in the United States, on literary theory, and on political studies showing how his works and words continue to have a profound impact on contemporary cultural debate.
187 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
October 17, 2014
Many thanks to For Beginners LCC for this ARC I was provided for this review in the Goodreads Giveaways.....
I had never heard of Frantz Fanon (1925-1961), philosopher, psychoanalyst, physician, revolutionary and author. Known as "the voice of the Third World". Unlike so many who changed and influenced modern culture, Fanon put his life on the line, standing firmly for his ideas, theories, and beliefs. "Fanon For Beginners" authored by Deborah Wyrick PhD is an amazing wonderfully illustrated (each page) introduction to the life, times, and works of this great revolutionary.
Fanon was born to a middle class family with eight children in the French Caribbean colony of Martinique. He was educated in France, and fought in WWII. He dedicated his life supporting Algerian Independence and African decolonization. He believed that the political leaders of colonial system did not support the best interests of the ordinary citizens/people and must be abolished. He challenged everything in the status quo: medicine, psychiatry, accepted cultural and political views.
Fanon's first book "White Skin Black Masks" (1952) written in France, addressed the oppression of white Western European culture on Blacks. The universal standard of beauty was based only on whites, he addressed white privilege/superiority, noting that these were the root causes of problems for many blacks also manifested in mental illness. He addressed black sexuality in relation to inter-racial relationships and encounters. He implies that the black mans desire for a white woman as pathological or abnormal behavior, yet a natural consequence of self-affirmation of a racist society...(Fanon had a romantic relationship with a white woman.) Fanon makes all his points in a logical respectful manner, many of his ideas were ahead of his time, and are visible in modern culture.
The Wretched of the Earth (1961) finished shortly before his death from leukemia, was censored by the French government. This was his most popular famous book. He voices against the Euro-American influence that imposed wretchedness on the majority of the worlds inhabitants. His revolutionary principles influenced an anti-colonial and national liberation movements: notably the Palestinians, Tamils, and African American including Malcolm X.
This book is also a fascinating look at world history, other famous and notable individuals, and literary theory/studies on postcolonial issues. This is an excellent easily understood study guide. For more information the Fanon website is managed by his daughter.
I had never heard of Frantz Fanon (1925-1961), philosopher, psychoanalyst, physician, revolutionary and author. Known as "the voice of the Third World". Unlike so many who changed and influenced modern culture, Fanon put his life on the line, standing firmly for his ideas, theories, and beliefs. "Fanon For Beginners" authored by Deborah Wyrick PhD is an amazing wonderfully illustrated (each page) introduction to the life, times, and works of this great revolutionary.
Fanon was born to a middle class family with eight children in the French Caribbean colony of Martinique. He was educated in France, and fought in WWII. He dedicated his life supporting Algerian Independence and African decolonization. He believed that the political leaders of colonial system did not support the best interests of the ordinary citizens/people and must be abolished. He challenged everything in the status quo: medicine, psychiatry, accepted cultural and political views.
Fanon's first book "White Skin Black Masks" (1952) written in France, addressed the oppression of white Western European culture on Blacks. The universal standard of beauty was based only on whites, he addressed white privilege/superiority, noting that these were the root causes of problems for many blacks also manifested in mental illness. He addressed black sexuality in relation to inter-racial relationships and encounters. He implies that the black mans desire for a white woman as pathological or abnormal behavior, yet a natural consequence of self-affirmation of a racist society...(Fanon had a romantic relationship with a white woman.) Fanon makes all his points in a logical respectful manner, many of his ideas were ahead of his time, and are visible in modern culture.
The Wretched of the Earth (1961) finished shortly before his death from leukemia, was censored by the French government. This was his most popular famous book. He voices against the Euro-American influence that imposed wretchedness on the majority of the worlds inhabitants. His revolutionary principles influenced an anti-colonial and national liberation movements: notably the Palestinians, Tamils, and African American including Malcolm X.
This book is also a fascinating look at world history, other famous and notable individuals, and literary theory/studies on postcolonial issues. This is an excellent easily understood study guide. For more information the Fanon website is managed by his daughter.
September 5, 2021
Actually a great and really accessible introduction!
I've read Fanon, obviously was blown away but was also conscious of how dense it was and how much I was missing out on.
This is a graphic introduction - full of, like, very 90's style editorial cartoons that I think Dr Wyrick drew herself - and while i was originally skeptical of the format, the cartoons did communicate some very powerful concepts well and also kept it light and readable. While this is for beginners, it's still quite dense and Wyrick takes the time to go through his work in some detail, pulling out some themes you may not immediately think of, coupled with a healthy amount of critique. I liked the biography section, the part at the end where she travels to Martinique, and I came away genuinely understanding Wretched of the Earth better, because that is one heavy book.
I would recommend!
I've read Fanon, obviously was blown away but was also conscious of how dense it was and how much I was missing out on.
This is a graphic introduction - full of, like, very 90's style editorial cartoons that I think Dr Wyrick drew herself - and while i was originally skeptical of the format, the cartoons did communicate some very powerful concepts well and also kept it light and readable. While this is for beginners, it's still quite dense and Wyrick takes the time to go through his work in some detail, pulling out some themes you may not immediately think of, coupled with a healthy amount of critique. I liked the biography section, the part at the end where she travels to Martinique, and I came away genuinely understanding Wretched of the Earth better, because that is one heavy book.
I would recommend!
March 29, 2019
What a wonderful little book! There are 5 chapters: one on Fanon’s life, three subsequent chapters on each of his main books, and a short, final chapter about his growing (yet still minimal) legacy in the 1990s that predicts the boom of Fanonian work in the 21st century.’ Following the style of the ‘For Beginners’ series for ‘Documentary Comic Books,’ Wyrick has multiple pictures/drawings on each page. They are quite simple in design, but quite profound in meaning. Illustrations from quick sarcastic quips to comic strip explanations of ‘colonialism’ illuminate each page. At times, the text portion of the book is shaped to these images, which makes the written words difficult to follow. However, as someone who has read all of Fanon’s books and several other monographs on his work, I think Wyrick provides an extremely helpful (and critical) introduction to Fanon. I am excited to pass this book into friends who would otherwise not take the time to read his work.
I want to briefly list a few tidbits of Wyrick’s approach and the books contents that I really appreciated. In each of the three chapters on Fanon’s books, Wyrick maintains a similar strategy. She first outlines the major philosophical-urgent-existence questions that Fanon grapples with. She then interjects a critical lens on the work: asking, what does Fanon miss? This might be gender intersections in Black Skin, White Masks, or class struggles in A Dying Colonialism. This mode of gentle/generous critique allows Wyrick to praise Fanon even stronger about what he does well, what he sees, and how he explains it. I think the BS/WM chapter would act as a helpful introduction for psychology students/psychologists from the West who otherwise would have trouble lifting their own veil of yt ignorance. I also appreciate Wyrick’s stance on The Wretched of the Earth (WE from now on). She affirms Fanon’s analytical claim that violence of the colonized against the colonizer is inevitable, as violence is the only medium through which the colonizer speaks and can hear. Wyrick outlines Fanon’s brilliant interventions into the disciplines and practices of humanism, philosophy, psychiatry, psychoanalysis, and sociology. And finally, to conclude, I want to highlight the laughter that Wyrick evoked from me. Those with a decolonial or critical lens (and those who have read Fanon before) won’t be able to help but laughing out loud at many of the jokes that litter the pages. I think this is an excellent strategy to build more often into philosophically minded texts: as writers, how can we laugh with our audiences, how can we make their day more joyous? After reading Wyrick, I’ve got a smile on my face and more precise/brief ways of explaining Fanon to my friends.
Why 4/5? There are a few drawbacks.
Drawbacks: Illustration/text layout. Language use: while many times quite simple, at other times Wyrick digs into heavy-laden academic debates/terms with little explanation. So the readership level changes often. I think this could be presented and used in a high school class (to teenagers) with a facilitator. However, it would be nice if this were geared more towards kids/less educated audiences than still being geared towards academics. This lack of balance made me slightly frustrated at times.
I want to briefly list a few tidbits of Wyrick’s approach and the books contents that I really appreciated. In each of the three chapters on Fanon’s books, Wyrick maintains a similar strategy. She first outlines the major philosophical-urgent-existence questions that Fanon grapples with. She then interjects a critical lens on the work: asking, what does Fanon miss? This might be gender intersections in Black Skin, White Masks, or class struggles in A Dying Colonialism. This mode of gentle/generous critique allows Wyrick to praise Fanon even stronger about what he does well, what he sees, and how he explains it. I think the BS/WM chapter would act as a helpful introduction for psychology students/psychologists from the West who otherwise would have trouble lifting their own veil of yt ignorance. I also appreciate Wyrick’s stance on The Wretched of the Earth (WE from now on). She affirms Fanon’s analytical claim that violence of the colonized against the colonizer is inevitable, as violence is the only medium through which the colonizer speaks and can hear. Wyrick outlines Fanon’s brilliant interventions into the disciplines and practices of humanism, philosophy, psychiatry, psychoanalysis, and sociology. And finally, to conclude, I want to highlight the laughter that Wyrick evoked from me. Those with a decolonial or critical lens (and those who have read Fanon before) won’t be able to help but laughing out loud at many of the jokes that litter the pages. I think this is an excellent strategy to build more often into philosophically minded texts: as writers, how can we laugh with our audiences, how can we make their day more joyous? After reading Wyrick, I’ve got a smile on my face and more precise/brief ways of explaining Fanon to my friends.
Why 4/5? There are a few drawbacks.
Drawbacks: Illustration/text layout. Language use: while many times quite simple, at other times Wyrick digs into heavy-laden academic debates/terms with little explanation. So the readership level changes often. I think this could be presented and used in a high school class (to teenagers) with a facilitator. However, it would be nice if this were geared more towards kids/less educated audiences than still being geared towards academics. This lack of balance made me slightly frustrated at times.
January 4, 2021
I loved this book!
the short review:
This book is a short, easy, fast read. It takes big ideas and breaks them down into very understandable chunks. The illustrations are helpful. What I really like is that the illustrations and text boxes don't clutter up the page in a way that you have to jump around as you are reading. Everything flows.
I highly recommend this book to anyone trying to better understand colonialism and I can't wait to jump into reading more Fanon now that I've read this helpful introduction.
The long review:
It put Fanon's work in context and provided a great outline of his work and the political movements he was involved in. It seems weird to give such high marks to a book that is *about* another person's work, and not the original source of work itself, but I thought the explanation was really helpful for understanding Fanon--and it was exciting to be turned on to Fanon's ideas and experiences. As I was reading I was repeatedly thinking, "Wow! Fanon said that?!" This beginner's book was written 20 years ago, and Fanon's writing was decades before that--yet Fanon's concepts, which she outlines, are still extremely relevant and just barely beginning to be understood as mainstream. There are so many points about racial dynamics, racism, colonialism, imperialism, and oppression, which I have heard people discussing in the past few years, that I did not realize were ideas that could be traced back to Fanon. Rarely do I hear him mentioned when these ideas are discussed. He seems like such an important and influential writer from a literary standpoint, a historical standpoint, and a political standpoint. A historical context for understanding global colonialism is sorely lacking in general education resources. The sloppy hodgepodge nature in which I have had to learn about the details of colonialism is part of the cruelty of colonialism in action. It's an abusive system that depends on lies and obfuscation about whether the abuse is even happening. It thrives on false narratives and disinformation. Fanon calls that out and attempts to make an understanding of colonialism cohesive and accessible. Having an outline of Fanon's ideas enhanced for me the cohesiveness and accessibility of that honest narrative which he provides. The only book I've read of his so far is "The Wretched of the Earth" --which I thought was moving, but I think a lot of it went over my head since I don't know enough about the history of what he's referring to be able to distinguish from what he was saying as reflection and what he's saying as prediction. Reading her outline definitely helped me get his references better.
the short review:
This book is a short, easy, fast read. It takes big ideas and breaks them down into very understandable chunks. The illustrations are helpful. What I really like is that the illustrations and text boxes don't clutter up the page in a way that you have to jump around as you are reading. Everything flows.
I highly recommend this book to anyone trying to better understand colonialism and I can't wait to jump into reading more Fanon now that I've read this helpful introduction.
The long review:
It put Fanon's work in context and provided a great outline of his work and the political movements he was involved in. It seems weird to give such high marks to a book that is *about* another person's work, and not the original source of work itself, but I thought the explanation was really helpful for understanding Fanon--and it was exciting to be turned on to Fanon's ideas and experiences. As I was reading I was repeatedly thinking, "Wow! Fanon said that?!" This beginner's book was written 20 years ago, and Fanon's writing was decades before that--yet Fanon's concepts, which she outlines, are still extremely relevant and just barely beginning to be understood as mainstream. There are so many points about racial dynamics, racism, colonialism, imperialism, and oppression, which I have heard people discussing in the past few years, that I did not realize were ideas that could be traced back to Fanon. Rarely do I hear him mentioned when these ideas are discussed. He seems like such an important and influential writer from a literary standpoint, a historical standpoint, and a political standpoint. A historical context for understanding global colonialism is sorely lacking in general education resources. The sloppy hodgepodge nature in which I have had to learn about the details of colonialism is part of the cruelty of colonialism in action. It's an abusive system that depends on lies and obfuscation about whether the abuse is even happening. It thrives on false narratives and disinformation. Fanon calls that out and attempts to make an understanding of colonialism cohesive and accessible. Having an outline of Fanon's ideas enhanced for me the cohesiveness and accessibility of that honest narrative which he provides. The only book I've read of his so far is "The Wretched of the Earth" --which I thought was moving, but I think a lot of it went over my head since I don't know enough about the history of what he's referring to be able to distinguish from what he was saying as reflection and what he's saying as prediction. Reading her outline definitely helped me get his references better.
October 18, 2021
great book + amazing introductory to Fanon. wish I read it before I read Wretched of the Earth but even so it’s helpful as a recap and is a great foundation for understanding his other works, his life, and his influences.
March 27, 2017
For those who want to know about Frantz Fannon - life, books and philosophy read this book.
February 5, 2025
really recommend for getting through wretched of the earth. Even with the Farrington translation I found myself losing the thread of Fanon’s thought process often. It is a difficult text for those who are doing self study, this text is a helpful accompaniment to being one back to focus and also provide more context on Fanon himself.
March 1, 2022
A sound introduction to Fanon, putting his words and ideas into context. The writer keeps a neutral tone, with shortcomings and contradictions noted, and general judgement avoided.
I didn't realize this was designed as a comic book. Still 4 of 5 stars.
I didn't realize this was designed as a comic book. Still 4 of 5 stars.
July 5, 2021
Informative, but I have questions about some of the illustrations (and not just the Microsoft Word cliparts).
March 4, 2022
An excellent, excellent piece of work
August 18, 2022
Excellent overview of the life of Fanon and his ideas. Probably one of the best "For Beginners" books I've ever read.
September 2, 2023
A prophet. A visionary. We needed Fanon to live a LOT longer. And we need many more of him now.
Good primer on the great man.
Good primer on the great man.
August 10, 2011
a good introduction to a revolutionary man and his writings
February 10, 2015
I give this book 3.5 stars. A good overview of Fanon's work though the language is sometimes inaccessible and overly academic.
April 15, 2017
Good introduction into Frantz Fanon. Provides context through the use of illustrations. I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking to learn more about Fanon. He is still relevant today as he was at the time of his death.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews