Frantz Fanon’s conception of decolonization : violence, tabula rasa, and new humanism

Abstract

his study uses Africana existential phenomenology as the theoretical foundation to comprehend Frantz Fanon’s conception of decolonisation. His conception of decolonisation is respectively and tri-dimensionally based on the concepts, namely violence, tabula rasa, and new humanism. While Africana existential phenomenology is concerned with the lived experience of black subjects, the concept of violence, tabula rasa, and new humanism chart the way out for the critical situation of being-black-in-the-world. The study exposes how colonialism is a longue-durée project that continues to animate the practice of dehumanisation. Consequently, black subjects are deprived of their humanity and privileges in their everyday lives. An assessment of violence, tabula rasa, and new humanism, reveals how black subjects can therefore create other true modes of existential life. These curative modes result from engaging in an enduring struggle as an imperative way for black subjects to defeat the perpetual colonialism, recover their humanity and reach self-determination.