Remembering Fanon: Zapatista Women & the Labor of Disalienation

The title of this paper signals an attempt to engage in a critical recuperation of Frantz Fanon’s work initiated by Homi Bhabha in 1989, and continued by Gautam Premnath in 2000. In my paper, I draw on Bhabha’s recuperation of the work of Fanon, connecting the Antillean revolutionary theorist’s most compelling psychoanalytic concept, disalienation, to the Zapatista movement based in Chiapas, Mexico. While I perceive the general movement to be directly confronting external manifestations of racism and sexism as perpetuated by (neo)colonialism, I argue that the specific gendered agenda of the Zapatista women engages precisely in the examination and dismantling of the internalization of oppressive structures, and this resonates significantly with the Fanonian notion of disalienation. Employing Bhabha’s formulation of memory as a complex process of rearticulation, I demonstrate the significance of connecting Fanon’s psychoanalytic theories of liberation to the internal labor of Zapatista women, as I argue that the psychic processes of concientización, initiated by women within the movement, are the basis of disalienation, through collective processes of critically re-membering, and re-imagining, cultural identity and consciousness. While the assertion of the permanence of indigenous culture reflects an externally directed message, the affirmation of the right to change cultural traditions represents an internal transformation. The right to reconceptualize cultural practices, rejecting those which in fact perpetuate oppressive structures, reflects a process of critical re-membering, using Bhabha’s formulation of memory, as it is both a reflection on the past and a contemplation of its impact on the present and future

Remembering Fanon: Zapatista Women & the Labor of Disalienation

The title of this paper signals an attempt to engage in a critical recuperation of Frantz Fanon’s work initiated by Homi Bhabha in 1989, and continued by Gautam Premnath in 2000. In my paper, I draw on Bhabha’s recuperation of the work of Fanon, connecting the Antillean revolutionary theorist’s most compelling psychoanalytic concept, disalienation, to the Zapatista movement based in Chiapas, Mexico. While I perceive the general movement to be directly confronting external manifestations of racism and sexism as perpetuated by (neo)colonialism, I argue that the specific gendered agenda of the Zapatista women engages precisely in the examination and dismantling of the internalization of oppressive structures, and this resonates significantly with the Fanonian notion of disalienation. Employing Bhabha’s formulation of memory as a complex process of rearticulation, I demonstrate the significance of connecting Fanon’s psychoanalytic theories of liberation to the internal labor of Zapatista women, as I argue that the psychic processes of concientización, initiated by women within the movement, are the basis of disalienation, through collective processes of critically re-membering, and re-imagining, cultural identity and consciousness. While the assertion of the permanence of indigenous culture reflects an externally directed message, the affirmation of the right to change cultural traditions represents an internal transformation. The right to reconceptualize cultural practices, rejecting those which in fact perpetuate oppressive structures, reflects a process of critical re-membering, using Bhabha’s formulation of memory, as it is both a reflection on the past and a contemplation of its impact on the present and future

Cultural Identity in Latin America: Toward a cooperative understanding of our past

Collective chapter that examines and deconstructs stable, fixed notions of Latin America and Latin American culture by counterpointing voices of South American, Caribbean, and Chicano authors. The chapter interweaves a diversity of viewpoints concerning exile, migration, bilingualism, translation, identity, and the relationship with the United States in the formation of critical discourses on culture with regard to Latin America.Fil: Salomon, Carlos Manuel. California State University; Estados UnidosFil: Catelli, Laura. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Humanidades y Artes. Instituto de Estudios Críticos en Humanidades. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario. Instituto de Estudios Críticos en Humanidades; ArgentinaFil: Majfud, Jorge. Jacksonville University; Estados UnidosFil: Martínez Cruz, Paloma. Ohio State University; Estados UnidosFil: Rabasa, Magalí. College of Art and Science. Lewis & Clark; Estados UnidosFil: Salmón, Enrique. California State University; Estados UnidosFil: Vaughn, Umi. California State University; Estados UnidosFil: Chacón, Gloria. University of California at San Diego; Estados Unido