Advertising: Postcolonialism

Read ‘The Theory Drop: Postcolonialism and Paul Gilroy’ in MM75 (p28). You'll find our Media Magazine archive here - remember you'll need your Greenford Google login to access.

Answer the following questions on your blog:

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

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. This was how they justified their actions, while all the time stealing their resources and, in some cases, people to be sold into slavery.

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

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?

Paul Gilroy suggests 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.

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. This obviously has a dehumanising effect on the people being othered.

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

The article discusses Nigel Farage, who rode to victory in the 2016 referendum by harnessing a sense of discontent in British society and aiming it at immigrants, famously standing in front of a poster with a long line of mostly non-white migrants and the slogan ‘breaking point’, TV shows such as Love Thy Neighbour and tabloid newspapers such as the Daily Express, who printed 179 anti-migrant stories between 2011 and 2016.


6) What is 'double consciousness'?

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'?

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?

The article discusses Brooklyn Nine- Nine’s ‘Moo Moo’ episode from its fourth season, where Lt. Terry Jeffords is racially profiled by another cop, and Nick Fury’s role as director of SHIELD in the Marvel films.