Psychological study of black people

Psychological study of black people

Prepared by: Dhaval Diyora

Roll No: 05

Paper – 11 : The Postcolonial Literature

M.A (English):  Sem -3

Enrollment No: 2069108420190013

 Batch:  2018-20

 Email: d.d.diyora@gmail.com

 Submitted to: Smt .S. B Gardi, Department of English,

MK Bhavnagar University.

Topic:  Psychological study of black people

         Franz Fanon, the French critic, was one of these postcolonial thinkers who singled out the discourse of psychoanalysis to analyze the hierarchical binarism of oppressor/oppressed, its  workings and its detrimental damages to the integrity and wholeness of the colonized psyche.

          In Black Skin, White Masks, the first book to study the psychology of colonialism, case study, philosophy, and psychoanalytic theory in order to describe and analyze the experience of Black men and women in white-controlled societies. He is especially interested in the experience of Black people from French-colonized islands in the Caribbean, he explores how these people are encouraged by a racist society to want to become white, but then experience serious psychological problems because they aren't able to do so.

          Fanon believed that the white-dominated society managed  to maintain and perpetuate the patterns of subjugation through an all-encompassing propagation of negative racial stereotypes. Under the influence of this hegemonic discourse, the black subject was entrapped in a chain of signifiers which relentlessly depicted him as lascivious and dirty, and denigrated his traditions as inferior and destined to be “wiped out” by the so-called superior white culture. The result of this process of inferiorization is a subalternized figure “battered down” by the unbearable weight of the demeaning negative stereotypes about the “tom-toms, cannibalism, intellectual deficiency, fetichism, racial defects, slave-ships” This, in effect, paved the way for the perpetual domination of the colonizer, who was allegedly blessed with the white color as the emblem of “Justice, Truth, Virginity”, over the colonized, eternally damned with black “deviant” pigmentation which stood for “ugliness, sin, darkness, immorality”. He believed that color-coded racism would ultimately bring about an inferiority complex in black-skinned subjects who found themselves unable to change the discriminatory status quo. As ultimate agents of power and authority, the white dominators would gradually push blacks into the internalization of the negative stereotypes of their skin color which represented blackness as the symbol of vice and depravity. According to Fanon, this would finally result in blacks‟ self-hatred and their ensuing efforts to emulate and behave like powerful whites, a process which he called epidermalization of inferiority.

          The roots of this inferiority complex, it is still a very real part of the life of the black person. Hegel’s dialectic between the master and the slave is often invoked to explain the relationship between the black person and the European. Hegel argued that the slave needs to resist the master in order to be recognized (Fanon, 1952: 171). This dialectic relationship is often applied to the relationship between black and white people. Fanon, however, disagrees with this. Not only because it is not in fact recognition as an essentially separate entity that black people seek from white people, but rather they wish to enter humanity. Furthermore, the resistance that is required by Hegel’s dialectic has not yet manifested itself in the black-white dynamic. The recognition/freedom was handed to the ‘Negro’ by the Europeans. Thus black people have moved from one subordinate state to another. They have not entered into a totally different ontological position (Fanon, 1952: 171). Thus Fanon recognizes the fact that black people consider themselves as inferior to white people whilst white people are content in accepting the notion that they are superior. Though Fanon regards adherence to this inferiority complex, by both black and white people, as completely irrational he does recognize the material existence of this complex.

          Frantz Fanon claimed that as the white man establishes blackness as inferior to whiteness, the black man internalizes racist attitudes and wants to be white. The black man is elevated above his jungle status in proportion to his adoption of his civilizing nation’s cultural standards. His inferiority complex develops when he rejects his blackness and strives to be white. The black man who has lived in France breathed and eaten the prejudices of racist Europe, and assimilated the collective unconsciousness of that Europe will “be able to express only his hatred of the Negro.”

Othello’s Inferiority Complex

          Writing in 1953 about the effects of French colonialism on the black Antillean, psychoanalyst Frantz Fanon claimed that as the white man establishes blackness as inferior to whiteness, the black man internalizes racist attitudes and wants to be white. The black man is elevated above his jungle status in proportion to the adoption of his civilizing nation’s cultural standards. His inferiority complex develops when he rejects his blackness and strives to be white. The black man who has lived in France breathed and eaten the prejudices of racist Europe, and assimilated the collective unconsciousness of that Europe will “be able to express only his hatred of the Negro.”

          In William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Othello the Moor of Venice, Othello holds a similar inferiority complex. While Othello is not a colonized person, the psychological impact Fanon describes is seen in Othello’s character. His sense of identity is altered by the complex dynamics of his presence as a racialized other in Venetian society. Fed negative ideas about blackness, Othello seeks the privileges of whiteness in order to deny his perceived inferiority, a quest that eventually leads to his downfall.

          Othello has adopted the language, religion, and customs of Venice. He has converted to Christianity, speaks the language eloquently, and, as a respected general, holds a high position in Venetian society. Othello thus represents an assimilated person. While he does not have a permanent home, he has adopted Venetian values and integrated into mainstream society. However, similar to Fanon’s black Antillean who has breathed and eaten the prejudices of racist Europe, Othello’s assimilation comes with the adoption of deeply rooted Venetian prejudices and hatred for blackness that has carried over from medieval times.

          Othello is met with constant reminders of his blackness no matter where he turns. Mentioning his blackness is not constrained to the insults made behind Othello’s back. He is constantly referred to as “the Moor” or “the black Moor” in conversation. Even when complimented, Othello is referred to as “the valiant Moor.” When the Duke attempts to comfort Brabantio about Desdemona’s marriage to Othello, the Duke states, “If virtue no delighted beauty lack/ Your son-in-law is far more fair than black.” Othello is acknowledged as a good and virtuous man, but his goodness must stem from a source fairer than his blackness. Othello, no matter how respected or how much he can claim the privileges of whiteness, cannot escape his blackness. Although Desdemona falls in love with Othello, his blackness is still seen as unattractive to her. She looks past his blackness in order to love him for his mind and character.

          When Othello marries Desdemona, white society is outraged by the implications of his interracial marriage. Before the union, Brabantio loved Othello and often welcomed Othello in his home to ask Othello about his past battles and victories. Perhaps Brabantio’s fondness for Othello is partly due to Othello’s exotic appeal, but regardless of his reasons, Brabantio does not dislike Othello prior to the marriage and was in fact quite fond of Othello. Brabantio’s attitude and behavior toward Othello immediately changes when Othello dares to think that he is worthy of marrying into the family. Othello, despite all his great tales, courage and privileges, is not worthy of true whiteness. Brabantio immediately expresses his outrage and makes xenophobic and racist remarks, stating, “For if such actions may have passage free/ Bond-slaves and pagans shall our statesmen be.” His remarks suggest that if inferior people are treated as the white man’s equal, people who belong under white authority will eventually take away the white man’s power.

          Othello thus faces reminders of his blackness from his wife, enemies, friends, and soldiers. He is in all respects assimilated into Venetian culture. His background is from “men of royal siege”, and he is wealthy, honorable, noble and courageous. Othello is higher in the class hierarchy than Iago, Roderigo, Cassio, and many other characters, but Othello is not white. His color will never allow him to acquire the full privileges of whiteness. Othello can be liked and respected, but he can never be a white man’s equal. Blackness determines his permanent place under his peers despite any class or character advantages Othello holds.

          Fanon writes, “After having been the slave of the white man, he (the black man) enslaves himself.” As Othello continuously faces his blackness and perceives blackness as wickedness, ugliness, barbarism, and immorality, he learns to hate his blackness. Othello’s soul can be white, but his skin is black.

Works Cited

Mirmasoomi, Mahshid. "Blackness." November 2014.

Chen, Alexandra. "Othello and Inferiority Complex." March 2018.

Shakespeareology, Totally. Othello and Inferiority Complex. February 2011.