'TO EXPLAIN THE OTHER TO MYSELF': FANON, RAMASAMY AND IDENTITY POLITICS Karthick Ram Manoharan A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Government University of Essex July 2015 2 3 Abstract This thesis compares the identity politics of Frantz Fanon and ‘Periyar’ EV Ramasamy. After framing an interpretative paradigm through which the core ideas of Fanon could be deciphered, an interpretation of Fanon as a rigorous critic of identity politics is arrived at. Exploring Fanon’s strained relation with the particularist Black identity politics of Negritude and his own imperative for the need to transcend from particularist identity politics to a genuine, universal humanism, I seek to prove that while Fanon rejected the false universalism of European humanism, he did not support rigidly identitarian movements either. Fanon’s universalism was based on a reciprocal and respectful recognition between cultures and peoples, working towards a universal humanism. After a brief introduction to the socio-historical context of Ramasamy’s politics, I then use this Fanonist lens to critique the anti-caste political discourse of Ramasamy, especially how he articulated his concerns towards the Brahmin Other and the non- Brahmin Self, and his approach towards the untouchable Dalit castes. I argue that his fixation with the Brahmin identity as the ultimate Other responsible for the inferiorization of the non- Brahmin castes, and his consideration of this identity as immutable and irredeemable, made a lasting universality impossible. Yet, Ramasamy’s penetrating insights on the myriad ways in which native culture in the colony oppresses minorities and marginalized groups challenges Fanon’s beliefs in the redemptive power of Third World anti-colonial universality. In the conclusion, based on the dialogue between Ramasamy and Fanon, I explore the limits of particularism and the needs of universalism, making a case for a constitutive, but conditional, pluralism. 4 Contents Abstract 3 Introduction 6 The First Protagonist ............................................................................................................................... 7 The Second Protagonist ........................................................................................................................ 11 A Comment on Sources ........................................................................................................................ 13 A Comment on the Comparison ........................................................................................................... 14 1.1 How to Interpret a 'Rorschach blot on legs' 17 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 17 The Scripture is the ultimate authority and there is nothing outside it ............................................... 18 There is no one truthful reading of the Scripture, but truthful readings which attempt to be honest to its essence ............................................................................................................................................. 23 Anyone can interpret the Scripture, but not all interpretations are valid and a wanton misinterpretation is to be avoided ....................................................................................................... 24 1.2 A Survey of Literature on Fanon 28 ‘Stages’ in Fanon Studies ...................................................................................................................... 29 First Stage ............................................................................................................................................. 30 Second Stage ......................................................................................................................................... 31 Third Stage ............................................................................................................................................ 37 Fourth Stage.......................................................................................................................................... 41 Fifth Stage ............................................................................................................................................. 44 Introducing Caste to Fanon .................................................................................................................. 49 2. Fanon and Negritude 51 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 51 Negritude: The idea .............................................................................................................................. 52 Orphic tragedy or a ‘Great Black Mirage’? ........................................................................................... 59 Sartre to blame? ................................................................................................................................... 67 3. 'To explain the other to myself': Fanon's Articulation of Identity Politics 73 Identity, Identification, Identity Politics ............................................................................................... 74 Identity and the Master and Slave Dialectic in Fanon .......................................................................... 77 Fanon, Universality and Particularity .................................................................................................... 81 5 Becoming Human: Fanon’s Project Identity ......................................................................................... 87 Conclusion............................................................................................................................................. 91 4. Contextualizing EV Ramasamy 93 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 93 Caste ..................................................................................................................................................... 94 The Stage .............................................................................................................................................. 96 Ramasamy’s Discourse – Its Context and Content ............................................................................. 101 Political Legacy .................................................................................................................................... 108 Criticisms ............................................................................................................................................. 109 Conclusion – and a Beginning of a Dialogue ....................................................................................... 111 5. ‘A Phase in the Dialectic’: A Fanonist Critique of Ramasamy’s Discourse on Caste 112 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 112 To begin with ...................................................................................................................................... 113 The ‘Shudra’ identity of the non-Brahmin and Anti-casteist Casteism .............................................. 114 The Brahmin Other ............................................................................................................................. 118 The Dalit Particularity ......................................................................................................................... 128 Conclusion........................................................................................................................................... 131 6. Beyond Anti-Colonialism: Fanon, EV Ramasamy and a Democratic Politics of Identity 134 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 134 A Short Note From and About ‘Indian History’ ................................................................................... 135 Notions of Nations .............................................................................................................................. 139 White Men, Coloured Women ........................................................................................................... 148 Is Identity Politics and Universalism Reconcilable? ............................................................................ 152 Conclusion 155 Introducing My-Self ............................................................................................................................ 156 The Other ............................................................................................................................................ 157 A Constitutive and Conditional Pluralism ........................................................................................... 162 Bibiliography 165 6 Introduction “What is your caste?” – This is a question that almost every Indian encounters at some point in their life. While liberal Indian and postcolonial scholarship tends to downplay the importance and centrality of caste in shaping modern Indian political discourse, belonging to a caste has practical implications in the