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Black Skin, White Masks

Penguin Modern Classics

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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

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 Colonial Period Social justice

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
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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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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A piece for both sides of the streets, meet at the cross roads
To set minds free

4wdnup

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Frantz Fanon’s insights have profoundly deepened our understanding of the Black experience, a dimension we often overlook in our daily analyses. This perspective is crucial for tackling the Pink Problem effectively. However, as Amilcar Cabral wisely pointed out, we must confront and eliminate the insidious forces that ultimately led to Nkrumah’s demise. Achieving this transformative understanding will demand the commitment and effort of an entire generation.

The Black Experience

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Let's repeat the final prayer

“I my body, make of me always a “human” who questions!”

The fight is the only solution.

Amazing book

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