Fanon: On National Culture

Fanon discusses the assimilation of colonized intellectuals and the importance of Negritude. He submits that these people become apart of the colonizer's culture; using their methods of writing and other forms of artistry. Eventually, the colonized intellectual rejects his accomplishments, finding them alienating from his past life. The colonizer believes that these intellectual individuals are ones that they have saved; however, when these individuals do revert to their native ways, Fanon says it is not only a knock to colonial enterprise but symbolizes the superficiality and pointlessness of the work accomplished. He divides the various phases of this realization into three stages. Stage one: full assimilation of the colonized intellectual. Stage two: the colonized realizes the superficiality of his works, remembers the past, and finally understands the falsity of the colonization. Finally, stage three: the intellectual will immerse himself back into the people and elements of his old life and rouses the people to begin writing to influence the rest with hopes of revolution.

In this chapter, Fanon expresses that the colonizer himself is no longer the only enemy. The imposed culture of the colonizer and its function to force assimilation is a great threat. Therefore, Fanon emphasizes the need for nationalism and nationalism in any region comes before culture; therefore, is a stronger force to fight the colonizer.

I believe that Fanon's view of national culture is extremely important to an effective and successful revolution. Due to the harsh influence of the colonizer's culture on the colonized, the importance of realization and awareness is crucial. Nationalism creates its own culture, in turn, creating a new way of thinking. With any colonized region, the people, broken and helpless, are directly influenced by the foreign culture. I believe that Fanon's emphasis on Negritude derives from the old saying "a taste of your own medicine". With the colonized intellectuals having been immersed in the Western culture, when they return after realizing the superficiality, they have the skills and knowledge to teach the native people to fight back, using the same ammunition once fired at them.