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Black Skin, White Masks

Penguin Modern Classics

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Black Skin, White Masks

By: Frantz Fanon, Richard Philcox - translator
Narrated by: Theo Solomon
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Summary

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Frantz Fanon's urgent, dynamic critique of the effects of racism on the psyche is a landmark study of the black experience in a white world. Drawing on his own life and his work as a psychoanalyst to explore how colonialism's subjects internalize its prejudices, eventually emulating the 'white masks' of their oppressors, it established Fanon as a revolutionary anti-colonialist thinker.

'This century's most compelling theorist of racism and colonialism' Angela Davis

'Fanon is our contemporary ... In clear language, in words that can only have been written in the cool heat of rage, Fanon showed us the internal theatre of racism' Deborah Levy

'So hard to put down ... a brilliant, vivid and hurt mind, walking the thin line that separates effective outrage from despair' The New York Times Book Review

© Frantz Fanon 2021 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

 Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Racism & Discrimination Social Psychology & Interactions Social Sciences Sociology Discrimination Thought-Provoking Colonial Period Social justice
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Critic reviews

This century's most compelling theorist of racism and colonialism (Angela Davis)
Fanon is our contemporary because when he psychoanalysed the way the French coloniser looked at Arabs, he is also describing the way the police looked at Stephen Lawrence. In clear language, in words that can only have been written in the cool heat of rage, Fanon showed us the internal theatre of racism, and how some of us have been staged in its psychodrama (Deborah Levy)
A brilliant, vivid and hurt mind, walking the thin line that separates effective outrage from despair. . . He demonstrates how insidiously the problem of race, of color, connects with a whole range of words and images. . . It is Fanon the man, rather than the medical specialist or intellectual, who makes the book so hard to put down (Robert Coles)
All stars
Most relevant
Perfect tells what it's like being black in the empire that is western society.
Very eloquent portraying the paradoxical nature of trying to belong in a land not of your kin.

Perfect description of what it's like being black.

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Frantz Fanon's 'Black Skin, White Masks' is a brilliant and unapologetic exploration of the psychological challenges faced by black people in a predominantly white world. The book is thought-provoking and balanced, offering a transformational and empowering perspective that gives voice to the modern black man's confusion about his essence. It articulately addresses the struggle to free oneself from the mental shackles imposed by a history of subjugation. Fanon's incisive analysis of language, identity, and the legacy of colonialism is as relevant today as it was at the time of its writing. This book is not just a read; it's an awakening to the complexities of black identity and a call to psychological liberation.

Brilliant

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I enjoyed this book so much that I finished it in 24 hours. It was refreshing to read about the internal struggles of a Black man, and to gain insight into the root causes of issues that stem from oppression, as well as how the psyche attempts to cope in order to be recognised for far more than traumatic experiences.

Poetic Grace, Excellent Psychoanalysis

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This book is a real favourite of mine.

I commute over a 100 miles to university and have to use high speed trains. I needed to quote the text urgently and happened upon this as way of trying to combat the motion sickness when travelling in the dark.

I’ve read the book 4 times and this was by far the most enjoyable experience of it. Theo’s timing, ability to engage with the text, pick out the nuances and bring out the satire in the way the author intended was phenomenal.

May you narrate many many more!

If I had to listen to one audiobook on loop for the rest of my days, this would be it.

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As a white man, I cannot possible understand what it is like to be black. However, Frantz Fanon
through this book, does give a glimps into the culture that has created the racial issues and problems that we are still struggling with today.
Clearly and well read by Theo Solomon, I look forward reading more of Fanons work.

An Account On Being Black, In A White World.

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