L'an V de la révolution algérienne

by Frantz Fanon

Publié pour la première fois en 1959 et sans cesse réédité depuis, ce « classique de la décolonisation » reste d'une profonde actualité pour comprendre les ressorts du mouvement d'émancipation qui conduisit à la guerre d'indépendance algérienne. Ce livre est né de l'expérience accumulée au cœur du combat, au sein du FLN. Car Frantz Fanon, né antillais et mort algérien (1925-1961), avait choisi de vivre et de lutter parmi des colonisés comme lui, en Algérie, pays du colonialisme par excellence. Texte militant, cet ouvrage fut aussi la première analyse systématique de la transformation qui s'opérait alors au sein du peuple algérien engagé dans la révolution.
Ce texte, parmi les tout premiers publiés aux Éditions Maspero, décrit de l'intérieur les profondes mutations d'une société algérienne en lutte pour sa liberté. Ces transformations, la maturation politique et sociale, ignorées par les colons alors qu'elles étaient justement les fruits de la colonisation et de l'humiliation, présidèrent pourtant largement au processus qui mena à la guerre d'Algérie, « la plus hallucinante qu'un peuple ait menée pour briser l'oppression coloniale ».

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Politics, Philosophy, Africa, Theory, Race

182 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1959

About the author

Frantz Fanon was a psychiatrist, philosopher, revolutionary, and author from Martinique. He was influential in the field of post-colonial studies and was perhaps the pre-eminent thinker of the 20th century on the issue of decolonization and the psychopathology of colonization. His works have inspired anti-colonial liberation movements for more than four decades.

Reviews

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

After completing MLK's autobiography I decided to read a non-fiction work written from the other end of the spectrum of violence from where Dr. King lived. Fanon wrote several pieces on Algeria's violent uprising against French colonialism and the struggle for independence - this work is a collection of essays that encompass a range of topics, from how the revolution forever changed the Algerian family dynamic (women becoming soldiers and an integral part of the battle - leaving behind the role of second-class citizen); another essay explains how the colonial propaganda tool of the radio was ultimately used against the French; other pieces detailed the French citizen's response to the insurrection.

I realized when I finished this book that The Wretched of the Earth is where I really should have started with Fanon. One of the best parts of A Dying Colonialsm was Fanon's reference to Henri Alleg's The Question, a staggering book I read immediately following finishing Fanon's work. That book is a must-read - especially for all of us living in the American Empire disgusted with the things our government does under the guise of "peace" and "war on terror".

[Sahar · Rating 5 out of 5]

“In reality, the effervescence and the revolutionary spirit have been kept alive by the woman in the home. For revolutionary war is not a war of men."

In an effort to elucidate the diverse anticolonial strategies employed during the first five years of the Algerian revolution, A Dying Colonialism showcases the resilience and dynamism of the Algerian people in ending 130-year long French colonialism.

Women’s centrality to the revolution was, as frequently demonstrated, integral to its success. The role women played by feigning compliance with the demands of the colonial authorities worked in their favour; their ability to relay messages, transport weaponry and actively partake in resistance missions played to the revolution’s advantage. The violent loss of dignity paired with the indiscriminate dehumanisation of the native Algerian population was enough of a wake up call for men to realise that their female counterparts fostered a unique set of skills that would afford them the time and resources to mobilise.

The conniving attempt by the French authorities to stimulate internal conflict to further the colonialist agenda by barbarising Algerian men and victimising ‘oppressed’ Algerian women was, as Fanon states, “a practical, effective means of de-structuring Algerian culture.” Much of the Islamophobia that visibly Muslim women face today can be traced back to this era of colonial perversion, and the efforts being made by many a country to ‘liberate’ Muslim women from their dress code.

“This woman who sees without being seen frustrates the coloniser.”

I found the chapter ‘Algeria Unveiled’ incredibly captivating. Women in many ways fostered a dual role — as members of their families (mothers, sisters and daughters) vs. members of the resistance; as unveiled, disguised European-passing messengers vs. veiled, stealthy revolutionaries. In a culture were women were often not afforded the same freedoms as men, this corrosion of cultural norms can be regarded as a form of empowerment, though it goes without say that for women (and men) to be put in such a situation in the first instance is the most wretched thing to have occurred in Algerian, nay, human history.

Of the tools utilised to facilitate the resistance, Fanon highlights the radio and newspaper as the primary means of disseminating updates and news pertaining to the revolution. Like the initial apprehension towards the doffing of the veil, the radio pre-1954 was perceived as the abominable apparatus of the coloniser. Once it was ascertained that both disguising as Europeans and utilising the radio/newspaper as a tool for the revolution were advantageous, these tactics were readily implemented.

"By means of the radio, a technique rejected before 1954, the Algerian people decided to relaunch the Revolution."

In the final chapter, ‘Algeria’s European Minority’ Fanon outlines the role of both Algerian Jews and Europreans in mobilising to assist their Muslim brethren, the latter of whom supported resistance fighters by warning them of French police presence and helping them with their smuggling missions. The change in family dynamics during the revolution was also very interesting — "...people came to realize that if they wished to bring a new world to brith they would have to create a new Algerian society from top to bottom.” The relationship change that stuck out to me the most was the father-daughter dynamic.

A Dying Colonialism is an clear, concise and insightful analysis of the resistance tactics employed by the Algerian people that is translated in a way that is accessible to all.

“The old Algeria is dead. All the innocent blood that has flowed onto the national soil has produced a new humanity and no one must fail to recognise this fact.”

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

“You who are so liberal, so humane, who take the love of culture to the point of affectation, you pretend to forget that you have colonies where massacres are committed in your name.” -Jean-Paul Sartre

Fanon’s riveting breakdown of the Algerian revolt against French colonization, published in 1959–a full three years before the signing of the Évian Accords.

Frantz Fannon was himself a member of Algeria’s National Liberation Front, Front de libération nationale FLN, and his accounting is essential reading for anyone with a serious interest in Algerian history specifically or anti-colonialism in general.

[Hanan Alzu'bi · Rating 5 out of 5]

إنه أكثر كتب فانون ألفة في نظري، وأنسب الكتب لتختتم تجربتك معه. فبعد الكتب المتخمة بالسيكولوجيا الكولونيالية المربكة أحياناً والتي تجعلك تشك بنفشك أحياناً، وبعد التفاصيل التاريخية للثورة الجزائرية والتحرر الإفريقي إجمالاً، يأتي سوسيولوجيا ثورة ليجعلك أكثر قرباً من الشعب الجزائري المناضل العظيم، وليعرفكّ بماهية النضال على المستوى الإنساني، ما فيه من تحولات عظيمة وجذرية في الإنسان والمجتمع، وبالتضحيات التي يقدمها الشعب المناضل في معركة تحرره وبالذكاء الخالص النقي للوعي الشعبي لمواجهة الأساليب الاستعمارية، الشعب الجزائري أفرز أساليبه النضالية من تجربته وواقعه المباشر وكان يسبق الاستعمار دائماً وكانت قوته وثباته وصموده تفوق ذلك الصمود السياسي والعسكري الذي عوّل عليه الاستعمار. لا يمكنك أن تنهي هذا الكتاب دون أن تشعر بالامتنان للشعب الجزائري، فعلاً امتنان خالص للتجربة التي أثبتت قوة الإرادة والصمود، إن ما فعله الشعب الجزائري هو المستحيل. وإلى فرانتز فانون الذي استطاع أن يفهم هذه التجربة النضالية المذهلة وأن ينقلها بإخلاص واحتراف شديدين كل الامتنان والتحية.

[Rachida · Rating 5 out of 5]

كتاب رائع ... ضوء مختلف لرؤية بعض ملامح الثورة الجزائرية
جاء الكتاب في خمسة فصول ، مقدمة وخاتمة وثلاثة ملحقات
الفصل الأول بعنوان الجزائر تلقي الحجاب .. يتحدث كيف ساهمت المرأة في الثورة الجزائرية وكيف تخلت عن حجابها وضربت التقاليد عرض الحائط ليكون دورها فعالا بجانب الرجل في الكفاح ضد المستعمر
الفصل الثاني بعنوان هنا صوت الجزائر .. عن المذياع ودخوله حياة الفرد/المجتمع الجزائري أو لنقل الإعلام المسموع ودوره في تغيير العقلية الجزائرية
الفصل الثالث بعنوان الأسرة الجزائرية كيف تغيرت مكانة الابن ومكانة المرأة لتحرك الثورة وتغير من وجه المجتمع
الفصل الرابع بعنوان الطب والنظام الاستعماري كيف أن الجزائري لم يكن يثق بالطبيب/المستشفى لأنه جزء من النظام الكولنيالي وكيف غير من نظرته بعد العمليات الثورة
الفصل الخامس الأقلية الأوروبية في الجزائر .. ومع أنه تحدث أيضا عن يهود الجزائر الذين وحدوا صفوفهم مع المسلمين لمكافحة القمع والاضطهاد الاستعماري .. أيضا عن الأقلية الأوروبية التي لم تكن ترضى الظلم الاستعماري وكانت أكثر انتماءا للأمة الجزائرية

[zara · Rating 5 out of 5]

What I loved about this book is that it shows the everyday ways that colonialism takes a hold in a society and the everyday ways that people resist. There are so many lessons in this book about the ways everyday relationships, attitudes and behaviors need to transform on the individual and interpersonal levels in order to build a revolutionary movement.

[Gabriel Avocado · Rating 4 out of 5]

fanon is one of those authors who can basically do nothing wrong. all of his insights are deeply well thought out and researched. this is more of a look into the sociology and psychology of revolutionary Algeria, which I find has a great deal of use. revolution transforms us, alters our social roles and expectations. understanding how it works in other times and places is of great value to the revolutionary.

I think this is perhaps a little outdated and not as timeless as the wretched of the earth or black skins white masks. it's definitely more of a case study rather than a general overview. still, a dying colonialism is worth reading because sometimes we need to remember that a better world is possible.

[Anterobot Garcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's Fanon... do you really give stars to Frantz Fanon?

[Eric Steere · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Dying Colonialism is an enquiry, both a philosophical and political polemic, on the state and meaning of conflict that engulfed Algeria in the period of the Algerian war for independence from France. It was first published in France in 1959, while the battles continued in the Casbahs of Algiers, Oran, and Constantine. The conflict had at this point extended rural areas and villages, and this book was written in the context of the unprecedented unity of the Algerian objection to colonialism, just three years before the independence of the Algerian state. The context of the author, as well as the political pressures from the Casbah to Paris, are important to consider when reading this book. It is also to be known this his most famous writing, The Wretched of the Earth was published after his death but before the end of the struggle for independence in 1961.

Frantz Fanon was a Martinique French-Algerian who joined the opposition soon after moving to Algeria and after the conflict began in 1954. He and the French writer and philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre (writing the introduction to Fanon’s Wretched of the Earth and many influential articles in the main press) are particularly famous for advocating violence in response to the violent repression of French colonialism. Fanon writes “having a gun…is the only chance the Algerian still has of giving a meaning to his death…the plain recognition of the truth”.

One of the most interesting segments of this book is about the symbolic and practical usage of the veil throughout the conflict. Its adoption, its function for the FLN (the Arab opposition to French colonial rule), and its social significance are explored with clarity. He explores the veil’s meaning to the French presence, feminists, its tradition construed by the French to be symbolic of humiliation and segregation. “It described the immense possibilities of woman, unfortunately transformed by the Algerian man into an inert, demontetized, indeed dehumanized object. The behaviour of the Algerian was very firmly denounced and described as medieval and barbaric”. Fanon traces the significant role women played in the revolution and the integrity by which the “committed Algerian woman learns her role….and her revolutionary mission instinctively”. Their role, from bomb placement to giving shelter to combatants, is explored in great detail, with both horrifying and inspiring anecdotes. An interesting reading not just of the role of women in the conflict but in the greater context of its signification for society. The veil’s use throughout changed meaning on both a symbolic as well as instrumental level, and its treatment here demonstrates the dynamism of the women involved as well as the FLN as a whole.

An important component of Fanon’s book is that it does not emphasize the struggle and suffering of the Algerian people but instead points to their greatness of courage and strength against tremendous opposition, his confidence in their strength.

The introduction, by Adolfo Gilly is worth a read, and he poignantly observes that Fanon “disassociated himself from numerous ‘defenders’ of the revolution—in Algeria or elsewhere—who assumed a protective and compassionate tone and invited us to take pity on an embatltled people and to cease the atrocities”. Fanon’s tone is much more inspirational than mournful or angry.

The great theme of the book seems to be of using the strength Algerian culture for the advantage of the revolution, the transformations in individual consciousness as a people mobilised for independence. In a great example of the expository and confident nature of his writing, he impresses that “we have wrenched the Algerian man from a centuries-old and implacable impression. We have risen to our feet and we are now moving forward. Who can settle us back in servitude? We do not believe there exists anywhere a force capable of standing in our way”.

He was right. But died before it was recognized by the world, but the spirit of independence is manifest in these pages..

[areebah · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘After endless discussions and mountains of reading, I began to see clearly things more clearly. To fight for the humanisation of repression was futile! It was necessary to fight in order to impose a political solution. But what solution? It soon became clear to me that if even the embryo of a social revolution was to be created in Algeria, the colonial links with France would have to be broken. Algeria’s very survival required that she promote the needed revolution, and this revolution could be accomplished only through independence.’

[Karla Correa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Topical

[Matthew Fuller · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I imagine is common, I first came across Frantz Fanon during an undergraduate lecture on postcolonialism, with extracts from his The Wretched of the Earth. I picked this up for about 20p a year ago from my library and it is such an illuminating text.

A Dying Colonialism was published in 1959, 5 years into the Algerian War of Independence. Its revolutionary passion seeps through the pages, with its possibilities to transform Algerian society and the Algerian population. Fanon's question is this - how does colonialism affect not just the political state of Algeria but the individual mindsets of the colonized themselves?

Upon dominion, the colonized enters a sort of paralysis, unable to 'progress' beyond tradition and habit, stuck in a hopeless limbo. The colonized resists modernity not through parachoalism but as an act of resistance against the colonizer and his methods. By fighting a revolutionary war, to win liberation, the colonized are forced to go through a process of renewal, to requisition the technologies and methods of the colonizer in their own name, for their own purposes.

"The power of the Algerian Revolution henceforth resides in the radical mutation that the Algerian has undergone"

This is the underlying theme of the book, fantastically illustrated through the opening chapter, 'Algeria Unveiled', which details the symbolic role played by the female veil in both dominion and liberation. Fanon explains that the French defined a precise political doctrine: "if we want to destroy the structure of Algerian society...we must first of all conquer the women"(23), and so it was that the veil became a symbol of contestion:

"Every new Algerian woman unveiled announced to the occupier an Algerian society whose systems of defence were in the process of dislocation, open and breached. Every veil that fell, every body that became liberated from the traditional embrace of the haik, every face that offered itself to the bold and impatient glance of the occupier, was a negative expression of the fact that Algeria was beginning to deny herself and was accepting the rape of the colonizer. Algerian society with every abandoned veil seemed to express its willingness to attend the master's school and to decide to change its habits under the occupier's direction and patronage" (28)

And so Fanon presents us with a paradox: the veil did indeed 'save' the Algerian woman, not as the colonizer hoped - removed, and 'saved' from the Algerian man - but by continuing to wear it, saved from submission to colonial domination. In the years of French rule then, the wearing of the veil was an act of resistance, a refusal to reevaluate cultural norms. Through the 'struggle for liberation...attitude[s]...with regard to the veil [were] to undergo important modifications' (33). Women began to play a central role in the war - as messengers and distributors of weapons - and it was here they began to remove the haik, wandering through the streets of the colonized cities, unveiled, westernized and ostensibly harmless.

This dialectic - the resistance to the methods of the colonizer and their redefinition and employment through the liberation struggle by the colonized - plays itself out again and again. Whether it be initial hostility to radios, later made essential in the struggle, or the relucatance to accept Western medicine and with it the dominion of the medical professional over the body of the colonised, this evolution from colonized to liberator created, for Fanon, a new type of Algerian.

The Dying Colonialism offers a clear exposition of the debilitating, stunting effect of colonialism, alongside its antithesis - the rejuvination of the liberation struggle. Liberation not just from colonial rule - its instutions, army, state etc. - but from the mindset of the colonized.

The book ends with Algeria still 3 years from independence, yet Fanon insisted that 'The crushing of the Algerian Revolution, its isolation its asphyxation...these are mad dreams. The Revolution in depth, the true one, precisley because it changes man and renews society, has reached an advanced stage. This oxugen which creates and shapes a new humanity - this, too, is the Algerian Revolution.'

[Juan Pablo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fanon writes on his experiences with the Algerian Revolution & the effects of oppressed people's encounter with oppression & the acts of resistance in inevitably creates in various aspects of culture while the oppression is active & transformations in the midst of revolution.

He talks about the use of the media to keep people up to date & how their perspectives about certain things change. For example, initially distrustful of the radio, it later became an important tool in the revolution. This point, about mistrusting what "comes from the oppressor" is also relevant in a later chapter about medicine & understanding or accepting technological & scientific advances. The acceptance of these things is tricky because they consider the source to be tainted & evil & feel like accepting anything from them is betrayal of one's own culture & people. A lot of good things come from unfortunate beginnings, one of the great ironies of life. None of that is to say or discount that overall colonialism & oppression is obviously bad. And obviously, these useful tools & means could have come about in a situation sans oppression.

There is a chapter about the transformation of the family, which touches on the father's relationship to the family, marital & romantic relationships, & the relationships between father & son, father & daughter. Their involvement in the revolution & acts if resistance forces them to shed some cultural traditions, especially as they relate to authority & patriarchy & allows these relationships to evolve & flourish & consequently, allows for the people involved to do so as well. It's interesting because, how does one enforce those kinds of traditions when people are actively fighting for their lives & those of others & putting theirs on the line, thus taking control of their destiny & are transformed in the process? They, those that benefitted or enforced those traditions & those that were essentially controlled by them, are no longer the same & can never go back.

Then there is the chapter about the European minority in Algeria & the nuanced view that Algerians had of them. They did recognize that overall, Europe & European colonialism was obviously the enemy & needed to be done away with but they also recognized how useful a minority, however small, of people from the oppressing group that understand the problem can be & how they can help.

The two appendices give the experience of two individuals. They are, respectively, the experience of the type of individual described in the chapter listed immediately above & the experience of an Algerian once apart of the police force recognizing his role as an Algerian & the need to decisively act in favor of liberation for Algerians.

The conclusion, while brief, makes it clear the transformative power of active resistance & revolution.

[Luke Pickrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Algerian Revolution is a fascinating bit of anti-colonial, revolutionary, and human history. From broadcast radio and family dynamics, to medicine and doctors, Fanon explores many interesting aspects of the revolution, always grounding his analysis in humanism (the possibility for humans to change the world) and psychology. Though not explicitly a Marxist, Fanon's fascination with the ways in which colonized subjects change themselves through the fight against colonial oppression in all of its forms matches Marx's assertions (see: The German Ideology) on dialectical materialism (humans change their environment through labor, and in so doing change themselves and their mental conception of the world, thereby continuing the process of constant material and ideological change) and the ways in which the proletariat becomes a class "for itself" and escapes the "muck of ages" in the course of overthrowing capitalism. Hanging over any discussion of the Algerian Revolution is, of course, the question of how nationalism rallied the masses around a program that ultimately led to decades of dictatorial repression (see: Pitfalls of Nationalism, in Wretched of the Earth). This book is well worth the read for Fanon's discussion on several topics, including but not limited to the use of radio by first the French and later the FLM, the changing relations between older and younger Algerians in war and the ever-important role of women, the ways in which the revolution changed family structures and social hierarchies, the uses and abuses of medicine in the colony, the relationship between the colonized subject and the French doctor, and the support lent by a small but significant group of Europeans (not including, it must be noted, the socialist or communist parties of France).

[Am1ir · Rating 5 out of 5]

C’est vraiment une lecture obligatoire c’est trop un bouquin important il parle de l’instrumentalisation de la femme algérienne dans la révolution du fétichisme de la femme arabe et de la femme voilée des conséquences de la guerre sur la psyché du maghrébin il explique comment une révolution se structure et pourquoi est-ce que le terrorisme est une arme révolutionnaire (dans un contexte de lutte anti colonial )

On peut en faire un parallèle avec ce qu’il se passe en Palestine et ça nous permet de mieux comprendre la situation là-bas le livre est un peu compliqué à digérer mais quand on prend le temps de le lire et de bien le comprendre ça nous enrichit de fou

[Adel · Rating 5 out of 5]

fanon’s writing and analysis is so poetic and almost moved me to tears multiple times. these chapters show the emergence of a new society and the dialectical changes it goes through in its quest for national liberation, truly essential reading.

[Sean Chambers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just, wow. It's going to take some time to process what I've taken in from this. Some rereading is in order. What I'm left with is this: Algeria's struggle for independence warrants further examination, especially in the context of 2024. The process of decolonization is ongoing in many quarters. Algeria has much to teach us.

[ي🧣 · Rating 5 out of 5]

« Tant d’africains sont morts pour défendre la souveraineté des États européens qu’il vaut la peine que des africains acceptent de mourir pour la liberté de l’Afrique » fanon based

[Natalia Fernández-Huertas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Franz Fanon es uno de mis autores favoritos de la teoría de colonial, este texto expresa tácitamente las ideas de colonialidad del ser y mental que habita en los países del sur global, pero a su vez hace un corolario interesante de las formas de resistencia que tienen los pueblos del sur global. Hace un análisis sociológico muy exhaustivo de la sociedad argelina y su proceso revolucionario.

[Tobi ﾄﾋﾞ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is absolutely incredible. A Dying Colonialism is a seminal work by Frantz Fanon, a psychiatrist, philosopher, and revolutionary thinker, whose life and studies profoundly shaped the book's content and impact. Fanon, born in Martinique and educated in France, dedicated his life to studying the psychological and social effects of colonisation on individuals and societies.

And he was really, really intelligent.

"The struggle for independence is not solely a political endeavor but also a battle for the restoration of dignity and identity."

His experiences, both as a black man in a colonial society and as a trained psychiatrist witnessing the detrimental effects of colonialism on mental health, heavily influenced his writing. A Dying Colonialism stands as a powerful testament to Fanon's commitment to decolonization and his profound understanding of the intersection between psychology, politics, and social dynamics.

The book is also significant as it offers a detailed examination of the Algerian struggle for independence from French colonial rule, a conflict in which Fanon actively participated as a revolutionary. He analyses the Algerian revolution's psychological and cultural dimensions- completely the first of his kind. He explores the psychological effects of colonial oppression on both the colonised Algerians and the French colonisers, highlighting the dehumanizing impact of colonisation on the psyche of both groups. He emphasises the need for cultural decolonisation to regain national identity and dignity.

The book's incredible impact lies in Fanon's ability to connect psychological insights with socio-political analysis, offering a profound understanding of the violence and dehumanization inherent in colonialism. His call for decolonisation and the assertion of cultural identity as a means to reclaim freedom and selfhood remains a rallying point in anti-colonial struggles worldwide.

"Violence becomes an inevitable means for the colonised to assert their humanity and reclaim their rights against oppressive forces."

But, Tobi!— if it’s so good, why is it rated four stars?!
Ah.
This book is very, very, very, very repetitive. Fanon makes excellent points throughout, but he makes them over and over and over and over again.

"Cultural decolonisation is imperative to reclaim one's true identity and resist the imposed values of the coloniser."
"Resistance against colonial oppression is not confined to armed struggle; it's a battle for the restoration of identity and collective pride."
"Decolonization is not a mere physical act but a challenging psychological and cultural process aimed at restoring dignity."
"Cultural reclamation serves as a potent weapon against colonialism, enabling the redefinition of identity and self-worth."
"The struggle for independence is not solely a political endeavor but also a battle for the restoration of dignity and identity."
— And there’s more. These are just quotes I found at a glance.

Recapping is one thing. But this is another. This book is several hundred pages long, two thirds of which is information that is being reiterated. It made me feel like I was going crazy.

But my opinion still stands that this book is worth reading.



One of the best books I’ve ever read, Fanon's work is renowned for its depth, urgency, and unwavering commitment to social justice, inspiring generations of activists, scholars, and thinkers in the fight against colonialism, racism, and oppression. A Dying Colonialism continues to serve as a seminal text in post-colonial studies, providing invaluable insights into the psychological and cultural ramifications of colonial domination.

[Inem · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow.... just wow.... I think this book comes in at number 2 for my favorite Frantz Fanon book of all time, right after Wretched. I mean I know everyone loves Black Skin, White Masks but for some reason I am not as big of a fan. But this book..... along with Towards the African Revolution (Pour la révolution africaine)... criminally underrated. Perhaps, it's just that I care more about anti-colonialism and anti-imperialism than I do about racism and racialization. Anyways, this book is gorgeous. Just so well done. It evokes emotion because revolutionary nationalism, national liberation for the colonized, is truly the most beautiful thing on earth. Let me share a few of my favorite quotes from the end,"Il est exact que l’indépendance réalise les conditions spirituelles et matérielles de la reconversion de l'homme." As well as,

"Pour le peuple algérien, la seule solution était ce combat héroïque au coeur duquel il devait cristialliser sa conscience nationale et approfondir sa qualité de peuple africain. Et nul pourra nier que tout ce sang versé en Algérie ne servira en définitive de levain à la grande natione africaine."

I mean wow, how Pan-African.

Right away, I was super impressed by Fanon's gender analysis in this book. I have constantly heard Fanon being scolded for being machista or masculinist in his works and his ideology and honestly... where?? Ok, maybe this critique of Fanon is based heavily on Black Skin, White Masks but the man evolved politically! Black Skins was his early work and I feel like it was treated as if that was his major contribution and magnum opus when I could not agree less. I thought his analysis of the evolution of gender and gender roles was so spot on and honest in this book. He does slightly downplay women's resistance to colonialism prior to the colonial period and depicts Algerian women as being rather meek and submissive. That of course is a mischaracterization of the history of Algerian women for the thousands of years prior to the revolution and I wish he had named some of the more subtle forms of resistance to patriarchy that existed under feudalism. But also, in another way it is brutally honest. In general, under feudalism, the masses, the common man OR woman, would have subscribed to a rather patriarchal set of beliefs. Fanon does a wonderful way of showing how through the revolutionary process, women were emancipated from feudal norms and became combatants that gave their lives for humanity. It was the anti-colonial revolution that lead to the dismantling of patriarchy. I think his chapters on women and the family could be read alongside Thomas Sankara and FRELIMO on a syllabus or reading list about African women in the revolution. He does such a good job of showing how women were indispensable to the revolution and played leading roles that made independence possible.

I am also surprised by how moved I am by the personal stories of the european settlers who became revolutionaries and members of the FLN. Perhaps it is because their stories are the only personal first hand accounts in the work. Still it was a reminder that SOME Europeans will actually lay down their lives for our liberation and will be alongside us on the frontlines when the day comes. This does more than anything to expose the allyship that we are forced to hear about all the time as fake, performative, shallow, self serving and egocentric. Like Malcolm X said, we are ONLY rocking with John Brown types.

This book explored the Algerian revolution in so much depth and in so few pages. It cover topics ranging from the politics of religious coverings to the uses of the radio in Algeria which was advanced technology of the time to evolving family structures to colonial medicine and strategies of repression to the uses of violence to settler colonialism and more. I could see this book as being helpful for one interested in a number of various specific topics related to revolution and national liberation. Another wonderful work by Frantz Fanon.

[Helin]

İnteresting.

[Jee Koh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fanon's account of the Algerian War of independence. In the war the women learned to instrumentalize their veils as revolutionary soldiers and agents. Fanon shows why the rural Algerians first rejected the radio because it was perceived as the voice of the enemy, the colonial authorities and culture, and later embraced it when it broadcast the Voice of the revolution. In like manner Fanon argued for why Algerians first rejected and then embraced Western medicine. (After reading this chapter, I understand better now my own position on female circumcision.) In the chapter on the European minority, Fanon welcomed all Europeans who aided the revolutionaries to be part of the new Algeria, which was to be an inclusive society. The chapter included two testimonies from Europeans who found themselves ultimately to be Algerians. Charles Geromini: "It is a year now since I have joined the Algerian Revolution. Remembering the difficult and ambiguous contacts I had had at the outset of the Revolution, I had some fear that I might not be welcomed. My fear was unfounded. I was welcomed like any other Algerian. For the Algerian I am no longer an ally. I am a brother, simply a brother, like the others."

[Ayanna Dozier · Rating 5 out of 5]

I need to return to this review at some point. In A Dying Colonialism, Fanon documents the Algerian during the fifth year of the Algerian War in 1959. It should be noted that the French title translates to "the fifth year of the Algerian war." I note this because A Dying Colonialism, the english translated title assumes that the effects of colonialism can die off and from Fanon's writing it is clear that much work in realizing revolution is needed after the colonizers leave.

I first read this book four years ago, what stood out to me in that read were the case studies regarding institutional racism on this read I was fascinated by his changing perspective on gender. Unfortunately, I don't have time to do it justice here but Fanon and his writings on Black Women have a history and in A Dying Colonialism his perspective progresses to a level that mirrors contemporary intersectional writing on gender. An extraordinary read and a must read for individuals who want a nuanced argument on systemic racism and sexism.

[Voyou · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first essay, "Algeria Unveiled," is particularly impressive in its discussion of the way in which both traditional Algerian, and modern western, norms of femininity are imprinted on the bodies of Algerian women, and the way in which women involved in the FLN were able to bodily inhabit and alter these norms in the service of the revolution. Fanon's discussion here has much in common with theories of performativity that would later be developed by Foucault and Butler, but where Butler (especially) has been criticized for the supposedly anti-political implications of an emphasis on performativity, Fanon shows performativity operating in a very concrete and political case.

[Anya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Obviously it's brilliant. But there is something distinct about reading Fanon that I think makes him so incredible: all of his work has this immensely energizing and rousing character that is really difficult to describe. I think I should go back and read The Wretched of the Earth again. The discussions of death and women stuck out to me the most in this one.

[M.E. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful collection of Fanon's essays in the Algerian National Liberation Front's newspaper during the height of the anticolonial war against France. It spans the time in between Black Skin White Masks and The Wretched of the Earth. Much weaker on theory, either psychoanalytic or political, but much richer historically. A lot of direct commentary on the French left at the time, the Third World movement, and continent-wide African politics in the 50s. Very readable.

[Chelsea · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had to read this book for a class I took, and it was hard to get through. I'm planning to reread it eventually and see if my aversion to it was due to it being required reading, or if it really was as bad as I thought it was.

[Thom Dunn]

Much more readable than Wretched of the Earth. Now something of a nostalgia piece to be set alongside Paolo Friere's Pedagogy of the Oppressed.

[Nora Rawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very much a record of the struggle for Algerian independence, analyzed through Fanon's look at how Algerian attitudes themselves have changed in that struggle. It's a little hard to tell sometimes how much I want to entirely trust Fanon's insights, himself an outsider; the first piece, on the veil, doesn't engage at all with what might be a benefit of changing attitudes around women in engaging in the wider world (which elsewhere he celebrates in championing the women who fight with the FLN), but was instructive for me in understanding some of the roots of French antipathy to the veil in France. Meanwhile the essay on the radio's evolution very much reminded me of Zeynep Tufekci on twitter's use in various Middle East revolutions. I have still not read Fanon's two major works--this one is certainly ancillary though especially at the outset it has many great insights in how the oppressed are supposed to control their reactions while the oppressor's parade their actions openly.

More a time capsule than anything else with the introduction in my Grove 10th printing waxing poetic (from about the time Malcolm X was likely being inspired by Africa's fervor for independence) about the radical moment and the ideal future on the horizon given those energies; the type of polemic that does not age well from a distance of 60 years, alas.