Page 168 - BLACK SKIN, WHITE MASK

THE NEGRO AND PSYCHOPATHOLOGY 129

In the fi lm Mourning Becomes Electra, a good part of the plot is
based on sexual rivalry. Orin rebukes his sister, Vinnie, because
she admired the splendid naked natives of the South Seas. He
cannot forgive her for it. 29
Analysis of the real is always diffi cult. An investigator can
choose between two attitudes toward his subject. First, he can be
satisfi ed only to describe, in the manner of those anatomists who
are all surprised when, in the midst of a description of the tibia,
they are asked how many fi bular depressions they have. That is
because in their researches there is never a question of themselves
but of others. In the beginning of my medical studies, after several
nauseating sessions in the dissection room, I asked an older hand
how I could prevent such reactions. “My friend, pretend you’re
dissecting a cat, and everything will be all right. . . .” Second, once
he has described reality, the investigator can make up his mind
to change it. In principle, however, the decision to describe seems
naturally to imply a critical approach and therefore a need to go
farther toward some solution. Both authorized and anecdotal
literature have created too many stories about Negroes to be
suppressed. But putting them all together does not help us in our
real task, which is to disclose their mechanics. What matters for us
is not to collect facts and behavior, but to fi nd their meaning. Here
we can refer to Jaspers, when he wrote: “Comprehension in depth
of a single instance will often enable us, phenomenologically, to
apply this understanding in general to innumerable cases. Often
29. Let us remember, however, that the situation is ambiguous. Orin is also jealous of his
sister’s fi ancé. On a psychoanalytic level, the fi lm may be described thus: Orin, who
suffers from the abandonment-neurosis, is fi xated on his mother and is incapable
of making a real object investment of his libido. Observe, for instance, his behavior
toward the girl to whom he is supposedly engaged. Vinnie, who for her part is
fi xated on their father, proves to Orin that their mother is unfaithful. But let us not
make any mistakes. Her action is a bill of indictment (an introjective mechanism).
Supplied with the evidence of the adultery, Orin kills his mother’s lover. In reaction
she commits suicide. Orin’s libido, which requires investment in the same manner
as before, turns toward Vinnie. In effect, through her behavior and even through
her physical appearance, Vinnie takes the place of their mother. Consequently—and
this is beautifully handled in the fi lm—Orin becomes an Oedipus in love with his
sister. Hence it is understandable that Orin storms lamentation and reproach at
his sister when she announces her marriage. But in his confl ict with her fi ancé it
is emotion, affectivity, that he battles; with the Negro, the splendid natives, the
confl ict lies on a genital, biological level.

4/7/08 14:16:51
Fanon 01 text 129 4/7/08 14:16:51
Fanon 01 text 129