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Fanon's Les Damnés de la terre : translation, de-philosophization and the intensification of violence

Batchelor, Kathryn

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Authors

Kathryn Batchelor



Abstract

The influence of Jean-Paul Sartre’s Critique de la raison dialectique on Frantz Fanon’s Les Damnés de la terre can be seen in Fanon’s direct engagement with Sartre’s text as well as in the vocabulary that he adopts when discussing key ideas, particularly in the now infamous first chapter discussion of violence. In Constance Farrington’s English translation of Les Damnés, however, philosophical terms are replaced with everyday ones, and the links between Les Damnés and the Critique are obscured. In this paper I seek not only to highlight this de-philosophizing approach through a range of examples, but also to explore the ways in which these changes, combined with a number of significant mistranslations, enact a shift around Fanon’s conceptualization of violence, with far-reaching implications for the take-up of Les Damnés de la terre around the world.

Citation

Batchelor, K. (2015). Fanon's Les Damnés de la terre : translation, de-philosophization and the intensification of violence. Nottingham French Studies, 54(1), https://doi.org/10.3366/nfs.2015.0103

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Sep 30, 2014
Publication Date Feb 20, 2015
Deposit Date Sep 8, 2016
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Nottingham French Studies
Print ISSN 0029-4586
Electronic ISSN 0029-4586
Publisher Edinburgh University Press
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 54
Issue 1
DOI https://doi.org/10.3366/nfs.2015.0103
Keywords Frantz Fanon; Les Damnés de la terre; The Wretched of the Earth; translation; Jean-Paul Sartre; Critique de la raison dialectique; violence; Constance Farrington
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/744607
Publisher URL http://www.euppublishing.com/doi/abs/10.3366/nfs.2015.0103

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