Standpoint Theory - Literature review Example

Frantz Fanon’s pioneering work on the black identity in French colonies, Black Skin, White Masks (1952), has exerted it phenomenal philosophical power over the years of social change that took place after its publication. Taking the specific case of the French educated Antilles Negro prototypes who tried to ape white mannerisms and ways of thinking, the book makes use of many concepts from psychology, philosophy, literary theories, medical sciences and even popular beliefs to tackle the deep-rooted racist mindset prevalent all over the world. In his introduction to the book, he says, “I propose nothing short of the liberation of the man of color from himself” (8). By this, he aims to signify that the black identity had been defined so long for the advantage of white communities so that blacks themselves have come to the point of acknowledging their lack of significance in the Euro-centric social structure. When they think of their own uplift, they fall to the conventional trap of internalizing the white ways of life, thoughts and sensibilities. Fanon’s book strikes a clear discord with the white philosophies of understanding and saving the black from their innately inferior position. His views are from the specific point of view of an educated black man who can see through the fallacies of such flawed viewpoints. Standpoint theory is most often related to the Marxist/socialist ramifications of identity politics and is very-well exploited in Feminist theory. The fact that all standpoints are to be understood as partial, but at the same time a significant part of the socio-cultural matrix within which they take form, makes Fanon’s work highly significant. The curious element is that Fanon is aware of the subjectivity of the work, and strives hard to overcome its local restrictions to reach a level of universal significance. No matter how hard he tries at this, he is also aware that his thoughts are intricately linked to the space-time configurations in which he is trapped. In his own words, “The architecture of this work is rooted in the temporal. Every human problem must be considered from the standpoint of time” (12-3). However, he claims that his ‘sociodiagnostic’ (11) work that deals with his times will definitely contribute towards social change in the future. Standpoint theory approves the sociological power that emerges from various standpoints, no matter how restricted they are by their subjectivity and temporality. A clear understanding of the subjective standpoints could possibly lead to a better understanding of the larger social matrix and even lead to more objective representations of the world. Fanon’s book is conveniently divided into eight significant chapters that systematically expostulates the issue of racism so widely prevalent in the world. The first three chapters deal with the modern Negro. He contrasts the educated modern Negro who has traveled through the land of his colonizers with the ones who failed to crawl out of their hole. In the fourth chapter, he examines Dominique O. Mannoni’s work titled Prospero and Caliban: the Psychology of Colonization. The fifth chapter, which he has titled The Fact of Blackness, depicts the Negro in direct confrontation with his race. He claims that one could observe in this chapter “the desperate struggle of a Negro who is driven to discover the meaing of black identity” (14).He explains that in the last two chapters, there is a “psychopathological and philosophical explanation of the state of being a Negro” (13). The successive argumentative pattern of Fanon’s passionate treatise is evident from the titles of the chapter that deal with all the possible aspects of black identity. In the first chapter, “The Negro and Language”, Fanon explores the power of French education over the black communities as a whole. The definition of one’s own identity is so closely related to the language one uses as part of his culture. The oppressive force of French language over the native languages is highly evident in the fact that those black people who are well versed in French are promoted by the colonizers and admired by their fellow countrymen. The mastery of language also ensures that the black man is liberated from his immediate surroundings and given opportunity to visit and know the land of his colonizers. Fanon observes that “The Negro who knows the mother country is a demigod” (19). However, a well-educated black man is neither appreciated nor accepted by the white communities. Moreover, they hold an obvious antipathy towards him. Fanon observes that the French education that blacks received has in fact led to a personality change, which eventually led them to a blind imitation of the white mannerisms and attempts to hide their black identity under the thick coat of whiteness that they tried to attain in vain through the language and other cultural specifics. Fanon points out that [T]he Antilles Negro who wants to be white will be the whiter as he gains greater mastery of the cultural tool that language is” (38). The pertinent question that Fanon raises is with regard to the real black identity that one has to comprehend and reclaim, beyond the seemingly powerful cultural tools that the black try to wield. They are apt to be betrayed when they realize that they gain significance only by disowning their self, which has in fact to be valued against the white-black binaries that exist on the basis of no valid foundation. The second chapter, “the Woman of Color and the Black Man” deals with the subtle gender differences that exist among the black communities itself. The fact that black women are subjugated and ‘othered’ further than the black men, both by the white and black men, has made many women writers reflect on the social politics involved in the gendered world. Many have depicted the black woman’s dream of being loved and owned by a white man, which would redeem her of her wretched existence and blackness. Fanon explains that “[I]t is because the Negress feels inferior that she aspires to win admittance into the white world” (60). Though the same could be aid of black men there are some differences in their aspiration that is more confounded by the concepts of varying power among both genders in the colonial situation. In the third chapter titled “The Man of Color and the White Woman”, Fanon deals with the complex power politics involved in the white women’s interests and attitudes towards the black man. The black man’s longing to be acknowledged as a white man finds fulfillment if a white woman accepts him as a partner. However, this is a mistaken position, since the white women never internalizes it and acknowledges the colored man just as an exotic accomplishment in most cases. Referring to the implications of such relationships, Fanon points out: “This sexual myth – the quest for white flesh – perpetuated by alienated psyches, must no longer be allowed to impede active understanding” (81). The skin color should not be considered a flaw by the colored people, no matter man or woman. The more one tries to attain social acceptance through miscegenation, the more one risks losing one’s true identity. “The So-Called Dependency Complex of the Colonized People”, the fourth chapter in which Fanon relates to Mannoni’s book, deals with the white man’s excuses of colonizing the blacks under the pretext that the latter will never be self-sufficient and independent. Following the line of argument by Mannoni that only a psychological analysis can effectively tackle the colonial situation and its intricate power structures, Fanon tries to explicate the French colonial system in Antilles. Making use of some medical case studies, he establishes that at the heart of the colonizer, there exists a Prospero complex that leads him to overpower the savage Calibans that sees in the many black men. The pseudo argument that is used as an excuse is most often the one regarding the dependency complex of the colonized people. With this chapter, Fanon establishes a connection between the first three chapters that run on similar lines to the Shakespearean play The Tempest, which has many curious parallels to the colonial situation and racist ideologies. The fifth chapter, “The Fact of Blackness”, Fanon makes use of the interpellations from the white world that kept reminding him of his blackness through his years of struggle for self-recognition. Whenever a white child called out “Mama, see the Negro! I’m frightened!” (112), someone of Fanon’s disposition is apt to feel stripped of his education, all the painful attempts at internalizing the white sensibilities, and wielding the white cultural tool like language. He observes that popular depictions of the Negro in many products of art, like the movies rely on senseless binaries: “Sin is Negro as virtue is white. All those white men in a group, guns in their hands, cannot be wrong. I am guilty.” (139). Such misrepresentations of human beings and the so-called moral values camouflaged in white ideologies, perpetrate sheer racism in the social structures of the world. Fanon’s poetic conclusion of the chapter reveals the black man’s dreams to rise about this unequal world order, but also explains how this dream is thwarted by the immense force of colonial/racist power. Chapter six, “Negro and Psychopathology”, attempts a scientific analysis of the colonial situation which is based on white/black dichotomies. The world of differences between the black communities and the Euro-centric white communities offers great scope for psychopathological analyses, which can work on the basic reasons for the varying complexes in both the worlds and their unpredictable manifestations. He makes use of many medical case studies in this chapter as well, which hold significant evidence to his arguments. The significant seventh chapter titled “The Negro and Recognition” makes use of the views of Adler and Hegel to problematize the much abused concept of the recognition of Negroes. Fanon stresses that the very existence of black people is only with regard to the Other, most often the colonizing power. It is observed that Negroes “sought to maintain their alterity. Alterity of rupture, of conflict, of battle” (222). There are many differences between the French Negro and the American Negro, who fall on different terrains of ideological diversities, which make the latter expedient thanks to the changing social conditions in his society. The sense of freedom and recognition are yet to reach the French Negro who is yet to realize that there exists a true identity that goes much beyond the differences of skin color and gender. The eighth chapter, “By Way Of Conclusion” serves its functional purpose. Fanon defies the popular expectations of being precise on some specific point in the conclusion. Rather, he reinstates the fragmentary revelations that he has presented through his touching narration. The varying responses to the book, which he dwells on in the introduction as well, are repeated here. He does not claim to have a flawless world view which he would like to thrust on others. He has just revealed some truths from his specific standpoint. The world has the freedom to be swayed by his ideas or to discard them altogether. However, he is fully convinced of the significance of his experiences as an educated Negro from Antilles facing the many biases directed at him. His struggles to overcome these harrowing experiences enabled him foresee the possible avenues of liberation. He explains: “It is through the effort to recapture the self and to scrutinize the self, it is the lasting tension of their freedom that men will be able to create the ideal conditions of existence for a human world” (231). He questions the conventionally held views of inferiority and superiority and proposes a world view that promotes human bonding based on deeper levels of mutual understanding. He also reveals, “I want the world to recognize me, with me, the open door of every consciousness” (232). And his final prayer is, “Oh my body, make me always a man who questions!” (232). True to the passionate exhortations directed at the white and black people of the world, Fanon leaves a sense of true fulfillment through the real recognition of human beings regardless of their color – which he foresees some time in the not too distant future. Fanon’s specific standpoint and the insightful attempts to maintain the highest level of objectivity makes the book a significant work that could be analyzed under the major precepts of standpoint theory. A true understanding of the discriminations against the black people can come only from a careful reading of a book like this. On the contrary, the white, Euro-centric notions regulated through the arguments of white people who struggle hard to understand the issue may only give a blurry picture. However, one could also expect the shortcomings of a panoptic vision in a work like Black Skin, White Masks, which is in fact minimal due to the highly informed author who takes a standpoint only after meticulous research and introspection. References Fanon, Frantz. Black Skin, White Masks (Translated from the French by Charles Lam Markmann). New York: Grove Press, 1967. Read More