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.
