Little more than twenty years ago, Homi Bhabha could justifiably write ‘in Britain today Fanon's ideas are effectively “out of print”’ (Bhabha, 1986: viii). This demonstrates the extent to which Fanon's current status as probably the most influential thinker in the field of postcolonial studies is a relatively recent phenomenon. In this chapter, following a brief overview of Fanon's life and career, I will outline the major stages of his thought in three sections. In the opening section, I will discuss his first major work, Black Skin, White Masks (1952); in the second section, I will deal with Fanon's political writings, which consisted of A Dying Colonialism (1959), the assorted articles that were collected and published posthumously as Toward the African Revolution (1964), and The Wretched of the Earth (1961); and in the final section, I will trace the legacy of Fanon's thought, and outline its continuing significance for a contemporary audience.

Frantz Fanon was born in Martinique in 1925 to relatively prosperous parents and grew up in the capital, Fort-de-France. Martinique was then one of France's colonies, but its status changed in 1946 when it became one of the French overseas departments (Départements d'Outre-Mer). His parents discouraged him from speaking Creole and generally promoted the values of French culture. In his later teens Fanon attended the Lycée Schoelcher, where he was taught by the young Aimé Césaire, who was later to become Martinique's greatest literary and political figure and an important influence on Fanon's thinking on race.