Black Skins, White Masks

This book provides an analysis, from a psychological perspective, of the legacy that has been left to mankind by colonialism, starting with the relationship between blacks and whites. Fanon uses psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic theory to explain feelings of dependence and alienation experienced by blacks in the “world of whites.” Although it is still considered to be influential and of great contemporary relevance—cited, for example, by Palestinians and Afro-Americans—it was relatively unknown for several decades after its publication. It’s only since the 1980s that it has became an anti-colonial and anti-racist manifesto that is widely read and studied in Anglo-Saxon countries. Before then greater emphasis was placed on subsequently published works, of an explicitly revolutionary nature, offering a psychoanalytic explanation of colonial relations, nationalism, colonialism, and liberation movements.