Frantz Fanon Biography by David Macey
Frantz Fanon (1925-61), author of "The Wretched of the Earth", was one of the great figures of the Third World revolutions of the 1950s and 1960s. His angry and eloquent writings on race, racism, psychiatry and anti-colonialism are still of fierce relevance. In the form of "post-colonial studies", his work has become respectable in the academies of the developed world. Born in Martinique, Fanon trained as a psychiatrist in metropolitan France before taking up a post in colonial Algeria. Here, he came into contact with the Front de Liberation National, which was fighting a bitter war of independence. Forced to flee Algeria when he resigned his post, Fanon subsequently worked with the FLN as a propagandist and ambassador, but also continued to work as a psychiatrist. Fanon died of leukaemia in Washington, aged 36. Based on extensive research, this biography aims to go beyond the myths that have grown up around the revolutionary hero and reveals Fanon to be a complex figure, infinitely more interesting than the theorist of anti-colonial violence celebrated by the left in the 1960s.
This is the most complete and objective biography of the revolutionary hero who wrote the minor classic The Wretched EarthTrained as a psychiatrist, Fanon took up a position in colonial Algeria, where he quickly came into contact with the liberation movement. He later worked with the rebels as a propagandist, and then an ambassador, before dying of leukaemia in the United States aged only 36. Fanon's short life was an exciting and politically committed one, and this account goes beyond the myths that have grown up around him. Macey reveals a figure much more complex and interesting than the stereotype favoured by his enemies and supporters alike after his death. Not a book for everyone, but a valuable contribution to post-colonial studies for the informed reader.
Born in Sunderland, David Macey has translated some twenty books from the French. He is the author of Lacan in Contexts (1988), the accliamed The Lives of Michel Foucault (1993), which has been translated into French, Spanish and Japanese, and The Penguin Dictionary of Critical Theory. David Macey lives in Leeds.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781862071681 |
| ISBN 10 | 1862071683 |
| Title | Frantz Fanon Biography |
| Author | David Macey |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Granta Books |
| Year published | 2000-10-10 |
| Number of pages | 416 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |