Frantz Fanon Body Schema

Body Schema: The Creator of Prejudice Everyday, individuals subconsciously utilize a two step process called the Merleau-Ponty’s body schema. This body schema is comprised of two steps: the first step states that the body orients perception and the second step describes the idea that through changes in one’s orientation, the body is able to perceive itself. Frantz Fanon argues that Merleau-Ponty’s idea of the body schema is not universal, but instead works in different manners in regards to colonized and black individuals. One implication of Fanon’s claim can be seen through an excerpt of his work, “The Fact of Blackness” in Black Skin, White Masks, as he highlights the perceptions created by the body schema between himself and a white girl
The first step entails that the body orients perception; meaning a person can only perceive things that are visible within their spectrum of sight. The second step involves reorienting the body, so that the body becomes the object of perception. By perceiving the body as the object, an individual can now determine relative orientation to one’s surroundings. When examining an excerpt from Frantz Fanon, one can see how he demonstrates Merleau-Ponty’s idea of the body schema by illustrating the habitual motions of obtaining a cigarette. The first step of the body schema can be seen as Fanon narrates the motions needed in order to obtain his cigarettes. By stating that he would need to “reach out [his] right arm and take the pack of cigarettes lying at the other end of the table,” one can see how Fanon is able to visually perceive the pack of cigarettes (Fanon 1). Since Fanon is able to see the cigarettes, the implication of the first step within the body schema can be made to describe this scenario. By maintaining the same orientation throughout the action, one can see how the perception of the cigarettes does not change, hence why this scene remains within the first step. As the interpersonal narrative continues, he states that “the matches, however, are in the drawer on the left, and I shall have to lean back slightly” (Fanon 1). Using this scene, Fanon demonstrates the second step in two different ways. The
During “The Fact of Blackness” in Black Skin, White Masks, Fanon illustrates how two individual’s perceptions, due to race, differ drastically. By depicting this scene, Fanon is able to show how the body schema changes from person to person, especially when comparing white and black individuals. Illustrating the differences, Fanon shows how he experienced the disparity between his own perception and the perception of a little girl. During this scene, Fanon encounters a white mother and daughter on a train. The daughter insistently says to her mother “Look, a Negro!” drawing attention to Fanon (Fanon 2). Responding to this comment, he cracked a smile, amused by the comment. As time passes, the little girl says, “Mama, see the Negro! I’m frightened!” in which Fanon felt the urge to laugh due to the racial profiling he experienced from the little girl (Fanon 2). When deconstructing this scene, there are two body schemas being formed: the schema of the girl and of Fanon. Analyzing the girls perception, one can see how she sees herself as a civilized human being, whereas she insinuates that Fanon is a violent and scary individual. This idea can be linked to the use of the racial epidermal scheme and the historic-racial schema. These two schemas portray the use of visual identifiers,