Fanon on Africa - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages... This national consciousness is perceived as the key to true liberation although some were not convinced because of its actual pitfalls like what happened in Africa. In other words, the formation of liberation movements is not seen as an effective remedy to battle the aftermaths of the colonization period.
Post-colonialism writers have significantly explained and offered various ideas regarding the proper ways of gaining back national identity while preventing the continuous unnoticeable acts of colonization. In relation, the book entitled The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon clearly elaborated these methods (Magaisa). A chapter regarding “The Pitfalls of National Consciousness” mainly tackled on the aftermaths of the colonial period during which liberation movements for national identity were rampant. Comprehensively, the book presented theories why the African anti-colonial liberation movements emerged after their independence. Frantz Fanon declared that these parties have contributed to the degeneration and destruction of their identity politics rather than gaining back their true independence. The author introduced the chapter with a statement pointing out the relation between colonialism and nationalism. He said that “the battle against colonialism does not run straight away along the lines of nationalism” (Fanon 148). Fanon further stressed that the “social and intellectual incapability of the educated class, the absence of unified mass effort, the unprecedented laxity and timidity at the crucial struggling stage of liberation will result to disastrous misfortune” (148) . Likewise, he defined national consciousness as the “all-embracing crystallization of the innermost hopes of the whole people and the immediate and most obvious result of mobilization” (Fanon 148).
In articulating the effects of colonization to the society, Fanon contended that some interest groups are harmful and ...Download file to see next pagesRead More