Husserl's phenomenology and the unusual: notes

Trần Đức Thảo may be one of the more unusual philosophers to have studied Husserl prior to the publication of Sartre's "inspired" L'Être et le Néant « essai d'ontologie phénoménologique » in 1943.  In that year the Vietnamese philosopher completed his studies under Merleau-Ponty, but only after a visit to Leuven and some access to Husserl materials there (at the urging of M. M-P.)

Other unusual employments of phenomenology, such as a slight vogue in the theory of architecture, tend to come from readings of Heidegger and Heideggerians.

Another unusual use is that available at allacademic.com in a paper on Fanon.  That paper proposes that

[a]n existential reduction unites Husserl’s classical transcendental phenomenological reduction and Heidegger’s and Sartre’s emphasis on the more existential dimension of phenomenology

and that its application can serve to achieve "complete liberation", i.e., psychological freedom once violence has "won" physical freedom.  Correctives to Fanon are not likely to be effective, as his followers tend to be unconditional or "true" believers.  The most serious problem of course stems from the historical and anthropological evidence that slavery within the African continent was not based on "race" - where race is naively viewed as skin pigmentation or black/white - nor were empires and subjegation of peoples new to Africa prior to contact with Europeans.  The current view that all humankind either remained in or migrated from Africa undermines a good deal of Fanon's polemics and his rhetoric.  Consideration of subjugation of the non-believers by the followers of the one true prophet  also undermines his case.  Fanon is a touchstone for those who want a justification for violence to remedy systemic injustice - injustice sustained and advanced by the very structures linguistic and otherwise of a culture, a society, a religion, a language or a tradition.  These doctrines of the true nature of imperialism, colonialism, oppression, poverty, rape and genocide are likely imprevious to mere phenomenology of a Husserlian bent - whether realist or idealist, early or late.

Trần Đức Thảo is a more interesting case: linguistic research is indicating a close connection between the "pronominal" and the "copular" in the evolution of forms of the so-called "to-be" verb across very diverse languages -especially in terms of the "grammaticalization" of topic and aspect. [...]

Fanon and Trần Đức Thảo were both radicalized by their experiences with French abuses of power and gross injustice in time of war and the creation of pretexts for war.  Continued French chauvinism no doubt contributes to the appeal of radical formulations to French dissidents in France and dissidents within French post-colonial territories.  The case in French west Africa is rather more complicated as many of those tribes and nations have not addressed their past histories in slave trading and the continued toleration of slavery, indentured labor and ethnic subjugation - especially in Moslem nations.

Reconciliation, as in the case of Canada and its appalling history of abuses in church-based residential schools for aboriginal children may indicate that the first phase need not always be violent.  A recent conversation with a young artist from the Red Lake Minnesota reserve reminded me of how important that second phase will be: my one modest proposal for reappropriating aboriginal skies can be seen at remastr.aule-browser.com