Genealogies of postcolonialism: A slight return from Said and Foucault back to Fanon and Sartre

Abstract

Overemphasizing Michel Foucault's influence upon Edward W. Said's work has diverted much attention away from a clearer understanding of the ways in which Said's work was enabled by that of Frantz Fanon. It has been commonplace to assume that Said's oeuvre must be read through a Foucauldian lens, and yet Said was at times very critical of certain aspects of Foucault's work, often gesturing towards Frantz Fanon as a more apt intellectual model. This article's first section ad-dresses some of the secondary literature that has begun elaborating this "rapprochement" between Said and Fanon. The article's second segment examines on what grounds Said distanced himself from Foucault. The third part begins providing a more sustained comparison between Fanon and Said.