ANALYZING RACISM IN PERCIVAL EVERETT’S NOVEL “JAMES” THROUGH THE LENS OF FRANTZ FANON

Abstract

This research article aims to analyze Percival Everett’s novel James (2024) through the theoretical and conceptual framework of Frantz Fanon, by applying key concepts from his famous literary works Black Skin, White Masks (1952/2008) and The Wretched of the Earth (1961/1965). To achieve this, the research employed a qualitative methodology. Accordingly, the study explores how racism is depicted in James (2024) through the lens of Fanon’s six major ideas regarding racially structured societies. The analysis of this novel James (2024) is based on thematic analysis developed by Braun and Clark, which mainly focuses to identify and analyze the data having a common and relevant themes in the form of codes that provide information beyond the surface level. The findings reveal that the ideas of Frantz Fanon discuss about domination of white people over black people while using language as a tool and through violence, as well as the consequences of racism, viz.  structural racism as the formation of upper-lower classes both in economically and socially and psychological oppression within racially controlled societies. Furthermore, the study clearly elucidates that a vision of transformation toward a society free from racism can be achieved through the concepts of Fanon i.e. violence as tool for liberation and new humanism.