Advertising: Introduction to Postcolonialism

 Introduction to Postcolonialism: blog tasks

1) Look at the first page. What is colonialism - also known as cultural imperialism? 

With that came attitudes that are now collectively known as ‘cultural imperialism’ or ‘colonialism’ – the belief that native people were intellectually inferior, and that white colonisers had a moral right to subjugate the local

populace as they were ‘civilising’ them: in other words, trying to make them more like Western European society.

2) Now look at the second page. What is postcolonialism? 

The process of decolonisation gathered speed in the 20th Century and with it, many of the attitudes associated with colonialism began to be challenged. Postcolonialism, like postmodernism, refers less to a time period and more to a critiquing of a school of thought that came before it. Postcolonialism exists to question white patriarchal views with a particular reference to how they relate to race.

3) How does Paul Gilroy suggest postcolonialism influences British culture?

Postcolonialism exists to question white patriarchal views with a particular reference to how they relate to race.

Noted postcolonial thinker, Paul Gilroy in his 2005 book Postcolonial Melancholia suggested that Britain had

not quite faced up to its colonial past, that the national psyche had not quite come to terms with no longer being a global superpower, and this had resulted in the desire to still subjugate those from different races, particularly

immigrants. As Gilroy puts it, Britain’s ...criminalisation of immigrants and their descendants especially those from the Caribbean and South Asia signifies a melancholic response to these social and political groups that are essential to late modern British life. This criminalisation and demonising of immigrants is done through a number of means, one of the key ones being othering.

4) What is 'othering'?

Othering is the phenomenon whereby we identify something as being different from, or alien to our social identity. If something is ‘other’ it is different to ‘us’; it doesn’t fit well within the confines of our society. The practice of othering persons means to exclude and displace them from the dominant social group to the margins of society.

5) What examples of 'othering' are provided by the article?

house.

In today’s TV landscape, shows such as Man Like Mobeen, Top Boy andI May Destroy You offer a much more nuanced depiction of ethnic minorities due to a broadly left leaning culture within TV production. The process of othering has been the domain of tabloid newspapers such as the Daily Express, who printed 179 anti-migrant stories between 2011 and 2016, that’s roughly ne anti-immigrant headline every ten days.

6) What is 'double consciousness'? 

This othering can sometimes manifest in a confusion over identity, particularly for people from ethnic minorities living in the Western world. This confusion is referred to as a ‘double consciousness’ whereby people struggle to reconcile two nationalities or identities.

7) What are 'racial hierarchies'?

Another hold over from colonialism is the idea of racial hierarchies: the idea that some races are superior to other ones. In Western culture, people who promote these ideas are usually advocating for white supremacy. However, perceptions of different ethnic groups can change over time.

8) What examples from recent media products challenge the idea of racial hierarchies? 

As Brooklyn Nine- Nine’s ‘Moo Moo’ episode from its fourth season, where Lt. Terry Jeffords is racially profiled by another cop. Some shows choose to largely ignore the character’s ethnicity and its impact on their role, such as Nick Fury’s role as director of SHIELD in the Marvel films, striving for a time when a person’s ethnicity doesn’t make a difference to anyone.