The Wretched of the Earth

The Wretched of the Earth

by

Frantz Fanon

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An attempt to raise black identity and culture throughout the African diaspora. Negritude and other frameworks and movements to elevate and legitimize black culture rely on a unifying African culture, which Fanon argues is impossible and counterproductive to the fight for legitimacy in the postcolonial world. Culture is national, Fanon argues, not continental, and the only thing that different black cultures and nations have in common is that they all “[define] themselves in relation to whites.”
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Negritude Term Timeline in The Wretched of the Earth

The timeline below shows where the term Negritude appears in The Wretched of the Earth. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 4: On National Culture
Culture and the Emerging Nation  Theme Icon
“Negro” literature, Fanon says, is an example of negritude, and its writers do not hesitate to go beyond the continent of Africa. Negritude has... (full context)
Colonialism, Racism, and Violence Theme Icon
Culture and the Emerging Nation  Theme Icon
...people from Africa is that they all “define themselves in relation the whites.” Thus, the negritude movement is seriously limited. “Negro” culture is breaking up because those who represent it have... (full context)
Chapter 4: Mutual Foundations for National Culture and Liberation Struggles
Colonialism, Racism, and Violence Theme Icon
Decolonization, Neocolonialism, and Social Class Theme Icon
Culture and the Emerging Nation  Theme Icon
...be defended by whites who believe in a “frozen image” of a specific type of negritude(full context)