Introduction to Postcolonialism

Create a new blog post called 'Advertising: Postcolonialism blog tasks'. 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? 

When countries like Britain, France, Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands "found" land which had native people on them who did not have enough to fight back and claimed it as theirs. Their belief was that the Native people living there already were inferior to them intellectually so the white colonisers felt that they were civilising them.

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

Post colonialism is critiquing the colonialism that came before it and questions the original white patriarchal views.

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

He suggests that Britain has not faced their colonial past and that they have not some to terms with not being a global superpower anymore. Therefore they still have a desire to control certain races or people like immigrants. 

4) What is 'othering'?

Othering is something that is different to society and that feels very different or alien to us. The practise of othering is excluding someone from the dominate group and marginalising them, this can have a dehumanising effect of them with people reducing them to labels.

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

Nigel Farage pointing to a poster of what he thinks is a line of immigrants with a slogan in red that reads "breaking point." 

6) What is 'double consciousness'? 

When people struggle to balance two nationalities or identities, for example people from ethnic minorities who live in the western world.

7) What are 'racial hierarchies'?

The idea that some races are more superior to other ones

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

There are numerous media texts that challenge these ideas of racial hierarchies by putting people in minority groups in positions of authority. Some choose to examine the implications of being BAMEin these positions, such 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.