Book Section
Structural anthropology remains a hidden influence in Frantz Fanon’s theory of the ‘sociogenesis’ of mental illness. This chapter outlines how Fanon’s belief in the therapeutic capacity of ‘socialization’ critically absorbs Claude Lévi-Strauss’s examination of the link between ‘madness’ and the symbolic structure of society. These innovations, Chamberlin argues, pushed Fanon to institute ‘semi-hospitalization’ as a radically dialectical method of treatment in his final role as a clinician at the Neuropsychiatric Day Centre in Tunis (1958–60).
Keywords: Fanon, Frantz; Lévi-Strauss, Claude; Structuralism; Anthropology; Radical psychiatry
Title
Disalienation and Structuralism
Subtitle
Fanon with Lévi-Strauss
Author(s)
Christopher Chamberlin
Identifier
Description
Structural anthropology remains a hidden influence in Frantz Fanon’s theory of the ‘sociogenesis’ of mental illness. This chapter outlines how Fanon’s belief in the therapeutic capacity of ‘socialization’ critically absorbs Claude Lévi-Strauss’s examination of the link between ‘madness’ and the symbolic structure of society. These innovations, Chamberlin argues, pushed Fanon to institute ‘semi-hospitalization’ as a radically dialectical method of treatment in his final role as a clinician at the Neuropsychiatric Day Centre in Tunis (1958–60).
Is Part Of
Place
Berlin
Publisher
ICI Berlin Press
Date
11 October 2022
Subject
Fanon, Frantz
Lévi-Strauss, Claude
Structuralism
Anthropology
Radical psychiatry
Rights
© by the author(s)
Except for images or otherwise noted, this publication is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Language
en-GB
page start
61
page end
89
Source
The Case for Reduction, ed. by Christoph F. E. Holzhey and Jakob Schillinger, Cultural Inquiry, 25 (Berlin: ICI Berlin Press, 2022), pp. 61–89

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Cite as: Christopher Chamberlin, ‘Disalienation and Structuralism: Fanon with Lévi-Strauss’, in The Case for Reduction, ed. by Christoph F. E. Holzhey and Jakob Schillinger, Cultural Inquiry, 25 (Berlin: ICI Berlin Press, 2022), pp. 61-89 <https://doi.org/10.37050/ci-25_04>