

HAP 107 - Lewis Gordon on Frantz Fanon
33 snips Sep 18, 2022
Lewis Gordon, a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Connecticut and expert on Frantz Fanon, delves into the profound themes of Fanon’s writings. They discuss Negritude, exploring how it serves as a framework for Black identity amidst colonial oppression. The conversation navigates Fanon’s complex views on violence, addressing its paradoxical necessity for resistance. Gordon also highlights Fanon’s significant impact on modern movements, urging a deeper understanding of identity, agency, and the transformative vision of decolonization in today’s sociopolitical landscape.
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Fanon on Negritude and Blackness
- Fanon critiqued reductive readings of Negritude and saw it as a profound act of agency that must be open to metacritique.
- He viewed Blackness as a constructed social identity capable of transformation, not an ontological essence.
Social Reality of Race
- Fanon rejected race as an ontological absolute, focusing on social reality instead.
- Blackness is socially real and political, shaped by human actions and agency.
Psychiatry and Philosophy in Fanon
- Fanon integrated psychiatry and philosophy, rejecting neurological reductionism of mental illness.
- He viewed much mental illness as sociogenetic, rooted in social realities like racism and colonialism.