Depiction of Race in master piece of Literature in reference to term “Negritude”

Depiction of Race in master piece of Literature in reference to term “Negritude”  

Introduction

British colonies had left its tremendous effects over third world countries. “As each coin has two sides”, those were positive as well negative. They were colonizers who established their colonies in these countries and took a forcible occupation of their land.

Their positive effects were there as they have established civilized colonies among colonized. Moreover, they have had established missionary schools and colleges, educational systems were changed, railway as big way of public transportation was recognized by them, most important they had established health care centre- resources that often had a positive effect on the lives of the colonized people.     

Withal they had left their negative impacts also. They not only damaged them economically or socially but as well damaged them mentally. Colonizer’s act of imposing their culture on others destroyed their sense of identity and pushes them to emotional disorder. The major concerns of colonizers were economical, political and social on which they wanted to rule.

Then there was a rise of post- colonial period which suggested that how those colonized countries were still remains slave of their culture, their life- style, as well their language. To establish a hegemonic state among foreigners, one needs to learn first their language and then their cultural values. Colonisers had done the same but later they had taught their language to colonized people. This afterwards became a part of people’s interest and study which known as “Post- Colonial Studies”, which was first not included as a part of educational criteria, later it became a branch of education.  

((All this is a form of Nationalism. Because, the problem with these nations was quite similar that their previous ‘history’ was written by British raj with their standpoint but civilians of these countries are uncomfortable with that and wanted to re-write the history.))

Among post colonial studies African as well Afro- American writers holds their noteworthy places. Their post- colonial texts have left its incredible effects as a part of literature.

Here takes place term ‘Negritude’:

 

A consciousness of and pride in the cultural and physical aspect of the African heritage called negritude

The state or condition of being black (www.merriam-webster.com)

Negritude, literary movement of the 1930s, ‘40s, and ‘50s that begun among French-speaking African and Caribbean writers living in Paris as a protest against French colonial rule and the policy of assimilation Its leading figure was Leopold Sedar Senghor (elected first president of the republic of Senegal in 1960), who, along with Aime Cesaire from French Guiana, began to examine Western values critically and to reassess African culture. (https://www.britannica.com/topic/Negritude negritude Britanica .com)

The specific motive of this group is to redefine the perceptive value of universe and claimed to re-write the Black history which is pervert by west. They want to probe the Black culture and past with its originality.

Frantz Fanon’s ‘Black Skin White Mask’

Frantz Omar Fanon born in July 20, 1925 and died in December 6, 1961.he was West Indian Psycho analyst and social philosopher known for his theory that some neuroses are socially generated and for his writings on behalf of the national liberation of colonial people and He was part of Negritude movement too. (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Frantz-Fanon)

His major Works are: Black Skin White Masks, A Dying Colonialism, The Wretched of the Earth, Towards the African Revolution

‘Black Skin White Mask’ (1952) as a significant work of Fanon left its remarkable effects on post colonial minds. This is a book about the mindset or psychology of racism. The book looks at what goes through the minds of blacks and whites under the conditions of white rule and the strange effects that has, especially on black people. The book started out as his doctoral thesis that he wrote to get his degree in psychiatry.  So it is written for white French psychiatrists and speaks mainly about Martinique and France in the early 1950s. (htt7)

‘The Black Man and Language’ suggests that if you do not learn white man’s language perfectly, you are unintelligent. Yet if you do learn it perfectly, you have washed your brain in their universe of racist idea. (htt7)

“To speak a language is to take on a world, a culture. The Antilles Negro who wants to be white will be the whiter as he gains greater mastery of the cultural tool that language is.... “At bottom you are a white man.” The fact that I had been able to investigate so interesting a problem through the white man’s language gave me honorary citizenship.” (Fanon)

The whites say that they are just trying to make blacks feel comfortable. Fanon says no, they are scumbags trying to keep blacks in their place--- as perpetual children, as beings of a lesser mind. He noticed they talked to blacks the same way he talked to retarded patients. And yet even if you speak perfect French the racism does not stop: white people will then say stuff like, “You speak such a perfect French!” something they never say to a white person with the same university education. Or they will say of one of your country’s writers, “Here is a black man who handles the French language unlike any white man today.” As if that is a surprise or something. To speak a language is to appropriate its world and culture,” says Fanon. Through learning to speak perfect French, they have unwittingly become culturally whiter. (https://abagond.wordpress.com/2011/08/16/frantz-fanon-black-skin-white-masks/)

“The Woman of colour and the White Man” present the psyche of black woman to marry white man. Black woman wants white man not because of love but they want them for their own hang-ups about race. It is her secret desire to be white and marrying white is fulfilment of her desire.

“All I know is that he had blue eyes, blond hair, and light skin and that I loved him”. (Fanon)

 A woman with a colour has an only reason to love white man is his colour and blue eyes rather than love. They want to seek their ingress in to the white world as a solution of their inferiority. This clearly depicted by Morrison (Toni) in her novel ‘Bluest Eye’, especially in character of Pecola’s craving for bluest eye and pink cheek, as well her mother’s desire for a white man supports this argument.   

“The Negro enslaved by his inferiority, the white man enslaved by his superiority alike behaves in accordance with a neurotic orientation”. (Fanon)

Every man in this world is caged by his own psyche and behaves according to that norm of psyche. Black people caged by their inferiority so they can’t think beyond their cages and fail to understand the goodness of black world.

“The man of Colour and the White Woman” shows mindset of black man attitudes towards the white woman. As woman wants white man as the similar way man also wants white woman to indulge their appetite. Most of the man who engaged himself with white woman, the only purpose of them is getting satisfaction of dominating white woman rather than love.

He present the story of Jean veneuse, who came to France from the Caribbean when he was three four years old. He lost his parents and brought up by boarding school, in these days books became his best friend and falls in love with white woman; may be because he was brought up European and desire like other European. He also prove himself as bad as white in Africa when he was working as civil servant and complete with native girl in his hut, it is not with the purpose of Revenge but with may he want to be Raceless. He fail to love any one in his life because he left lonely by her mother at early age, he grew up with this burden of being alone so, he afraid to love and keep distance even with the woman with whom he wants to marry.

“The So-Called Dependency Complex of the Colonized”

In this part of text Fanon describe how Black people are suffering from inferiority complex which is produced by colonizers. Here Fanon present Mannoni’s viewpoint about mindset of Black and White. He points out that most of the natives are content to put whites above them and be dependent on them because it fulfils a deep need in their hearts, one that was there long before whites showed up. Mannoni calls this a dependency complex A few natives are unhappy because they are suffer from an inferiority complex, which makes them want to be the equal of whites While colonials suffer from a Prospero complex. Just like the Prospero in Shakespeare’s “The Tempest”, they want to lord it over natives. The colonies draw those whites who cannot accept others as they are, who do not want to have to take other men seriously but instead want to lord it over them. (https://abagond.wordpress.com/2011/08/16/frantz-fanon-black-skin-white-masks/)

“The Fact of Blackness” deals with the issue of “How Black man Objectify in the White World”? And how they are suffering from identity crisis?

Fanon says that he want to be a man in white world in which he is living where his skin colour speaks louder than his identity. He says, in this white world skin colour became everything more than your education and achievement (https://abagond.wordpress.com/2011/08/16/frantz-fanon-black-skin-white-masks/) he also added that his neighbour and cousins has genuine reason to hate him but white can hate him without reason. He informs us that he isn’t seen as a doctor but as a black man who is doctor. Means being black is only his identity nothing can be more powerful than this.  

“The Black Man and psychopathology”

 Why white people are so afraid of black men:

1.    Black men are seen as being way less moral.

2.    White men fear they will take white women from them.

There is a fear in hidden psyche of whites that black men have bigger penises. They think that once a white woman sleeps with a black man she will never want a white man again: if it is not for their size then it is because black men are so much better in bed. (htt7)

But white women too are afraid of black men. Fanon saw it for himself when he fought in Europe in the Second World War: he was in three or four countries and every time white women would shrink back in fear if he asked them for a dance – even though he was hardly in a position to do them harm. Black men are seen as little better than animals. Therefore they are feared for what their bodies can do. (htt7)

At last he concludes by saying that he want to be a black man, he wants to be a man plain and simple man. He says that the problem with blacks and whites is that both have become prisoners of their pasts: both have to move away from the inhuman voices of their respective ancestors so that a genuine communication can be born.

Thus Black skin, White Masks that is rarely historicized the colonial experience. There is no master narrative or realist perspective that provide a background of social and historical facts against which emerge the problems of the individual or collective psyche. (Fanon)     

Aime Cesaire

Aime Fernand David Cesaire was born on June 26,1913and died on April 17, 2008. He was Martinican poet, playwright, and politician; who was cofounder with Leopold Sedar Senghor of Negritude, an influential movement to restore the cultural identity of Black Africans. (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Aime-Cesaire)

Cesaire was a professor of English and was teaching Shakespeare; from that he borrows his idea for ‘A Tempest’.  Cesaire’s ‘A tempest’ is post colonial view point of Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’ he uses same plot construction and characters which has used by Shakespeare but here, Arial is presentation of Mulatto slave and Caliban is black slave and story moves round the efforts of Caliban and Ariel’s attempt to get their freedom back from Prospero. Ariel is more obedient to Prospero while Caliban is rebellious from the very first act.

Prospero who was betrayed by his brother, later he settled on one strange island which was owned by Caliban’s mother. Later slowly and steadily took the control under his hand and established his colony which was ruled by him.

Ariel: Master, I must beg you to spare me this kind of labour

 Prospero: (Shouting): Listen, and listen good! There’s a task to be          performed, and I don’t care how it gets done!

 Ariel: You’ve promised me my freedom a thousand times and I’m still waiting. (CESAIRE)

Above dialogues between Prospero and Arial suggests that Ariel constant asks for getting freedom from Prospero’s ruling but he can’t get it. It suggest how colonizers ruled upon colonized people and keep giving them fake hopes and promises for their freedom.

 Caliban: Uhuru!

Prospero: What did you say?

Caliban: I said, Uhuru! (A Swahili word, which refers to ‘freedom’)

Prospero: Mumbling your native language again! I have already told you,                                      I don’t like it. You could be polite, at least; a simple “hello” wouldn’t kill you

Here, we come across the concept of colonizers’ rude approach towards the colonized people and their native language. They always consider their language as a sophisticated and polite as well considered native people and native language as uncivilized and uncultured one.

Prospero: Gracious as always, you ugly ape! How can anyone be so ugly? (CESAIRE)

This suggests that how colonizers think of Black or Coloured men. They always considered them as “Ape”, who still belongs to African Jungles, and do not deserves colonies. They think they are uncivilized and uncultured. Their perception towards these people remains same from the eras before and till the day.

 The same discernment of whites towards black people depicted in Eugene O’ Neill’s “Hairy Ape” (1992), which exactly suggests the physical appearance and their mental capacity is always challenged by whites.

Prospero: Since you’re so fond of invective, you could at least thank me for having taught you to speak at all. You, a savage....a dumb animal, a beast I educated, trained, dragged up from the bestiality that still clings to you.

Caliban: In the first place, that’s not true. You didn’t teach me a thing! Except to jabber in your own language so that I could understand your orders: chop the wood, wash the dishes, fish for food, plant vegetables, all because you’re too lazy to do it yourself. And as for your learning, did you impart any of that to me? No, you took care not to. All your science you keep for yourself alone, shut up in those big books. (CESAIRE)

Language remains at the prominent state, while it comes to colonizer’s policy to privilege on native people. They taught their language to those people so they can become their slave completely. Their duty merely remains to follow their damn orders. Their knowledge they never shared with these native people. Because, they were smart enough to do not let them know their flaws and weaknesses. As in ‘Robinson Crusoe’ by Daniel Defoe, Crusoe used the same course of action for making Friday his slave. He taught him his language.

Caliban: That’s right, that’s right! In the beginning, the gentleman was all sweet talk: dear Caliban here, my little Caliban there! And what do you think you’d have done without me in this strange land? Ingrate! I taught you the trees, fruits; birds, the seasons, and now you don’t give a damn... Caliban the story! Once you’ve squeezed the juice from the orange, you toss the rind away! (CESAIRE)

Prospero unerringly clasps the place of white mindsets; accordingly they began their talk sweet with the native people and then seize the reign in their hands.

Prospero: Enough! Careful, Caliban! If you keep grumbling you’ll be whipped. And if you don’t step lively, you keep dragging your feet or try to strike or sabotage things, I’ll beat you. Beating is the only language you really understand...... (CESAIRE)

 This is how colonizers used to do; they always took colonized as animals, they never treated them as human being. For them they were just a puppet who pursues their orders and commands.

Caliban: It’s this. I’ve decided I don’t want to be called Caliban any longer..... Call me X. That would be best. Like a man without name. Or, to be more precise, a man whose name has been stolen.... Every time you summon me it reminds me of a basic fact, the fact that you’ve stolen everything from me, even my identity! Uhuru! (CESAIRE)

It was exactly done by settlers who have directly attacked on native people’s psyche; that creates identity crisis among them. They were always suffered from the inferiority complex which was created by colonizers.

 Ariel: I don’t know what to do with you. I’ve often had this inspiring, uplifting dream that one day Prospero, you and me, we all three set out, like brothers to build a wonderful world, each one contributing his own special thing: patience, vitality, love, willpower too.........

 Caliban: You don’t understand a thing about Prospero. He’s not the collaborating type. He’s a guy who only feels something when he’s wiped someone out. A crusher, a pulveriser, that’s what he is! And you talk about brotherhood! (CESAIRE)

Whenever a positive attempt initiates by black people to establish brotherly hood bondage with whites, their racial differences interrupts. Whites never accepted one beyond their settled mentality for them.

The highest pitch of this play lays in the last speech by Caliban, which truly depicts the controlled psyche of blacks by settlers; which suggests their state at periphery.

Prospero, you are the master of illusion.

Lying is your trademark.

And you have lied so much to me

(Lied about the world, lied about me)

That you have ended by imposing on me an image of myself.

Underdeveloped, you brand me inferior.

That’s the way you have forced me to see myself.

I detest that image! What’s more, it’s a lie!

But now I know you, you old cancer,

And I know myself as well. (CESAIRE)

It also shows Caliban’s self-realisation as well strategies which Prospero used to reign over these native people.

Time passes, Prospero appears aged and wary. His gestures are jerky and automatic, his speech weak, toneless, trite. Now on island only Prospero and Caliban two are remaining. This shows the white and the coloured one. Here, Fanon’s theory of ‘racism’ applies likewise the language is the larger idea which is represented here.

Throughout this play Cesaire has portrayed the post- colonial view of blacks towards their imposed marginalize condition among colonizers. As well there is a difference between Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’ and Cesaire’s ‘A Tempest’. ‘The Tempest’ ends with reconciliation, wherein ‘A Tempest’ by Cesaire ends with open rebel. Caliban as rebellion could bring down the Prospero.

Caliban’s Song,

Caliban: Freedom Hi- Day! Freedom Hi-Day!

  “Jungle is back; the pre- colonisation period has been returned” (CESAIRE)

Sum up:

With my inadequate knowledge I have tried to rationalize the topic. First thing is how whites are ruling over black or coloured. The whole psyche of blacks controlled by whites as well with the sound argumentations of Fanon represents that there is deep fear in whites about their different sexual compatibility in bed for white women. Their clashes are more arouse from their within rather from them each other. 

“O my body, make of me always a man who questions!” (Fanon)

                                                                                                Frantz Fanon

This quote by Fanon represents the larger idea of one’s thinking capability stops at another’s physical appearance and capacity.

“We are the chosen people look at the colour of our skins. The others are black or yellow: that is because of their sins.” (Fanon)

                                                                             Fanon

The white’s settled mentality suggests that their superiority complex leads others toward inferior state. Their Euro- Centric mentality automatically brings others in periphery, its deepest effects shows in behaviour of blacks with whites and with their people. This shows binary opposition too of white and black, likewise good v/s bad. It is pre- settled mentality of whites for black that they are not good enough, it merely can be a perception which perhaps implied by their forefathers and ancestors. At the other side blacks are more hopeless, that they have been promised for freedom for thousand a time, but they all were fake, they still there where they were.

We also can connect classism with racism, which reflects interwoven relationship. The race sometimes define the class, not the qualifications or none other thing. Thus the raciest idea surrounds black and whites. Even though they wants to vanish that all, they’ll perhaps be failed to do because, they have been caged into this raciest psyche.     

 

Works Cited

<http://abagond.wordpress.com/2011/08/16/frantz-fanon-black-skin-white-masks/>.

CESAIRE, AIME. A Tempest. New York: Theatre Communication Group, 1992.

Fanon, Frantz. Black Skin, White Masks. London: Pluto press, 1986.

http://www.britannica.com.

https://abagond.wordpress.com/2011/08/16/frantz-fanon-black-skin-white-masks/.

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Aime-Cesaire.

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Frantz-Fanon.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Negritude negritude Britanica .com.

www.merriam-webster.com.