Introduction to Postcolonialism:
1) Look at the first page. What is colonialism - also known as cultural imperialism?
‘Postmodernism’, ‘poststructuralism’ and ‘postcolonialism’ are often tough to pin down to one particular thing. This might be because first you have to understand the thing, modernism, structuralism etc., then you have to understand the ‘postness’ of it all. In academia, this tends to mean not just ‘something that came after’ but also a critical analysis or reaction against something.
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?
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 groupto the margins of society. This obviously has a dehumanising effect on the people being othered. Rather than focusing on the things we have in common, that everybody has hopes and dreams, things they care about, people are reduced to labels such as ‘illegal immigrant’ or ‘asylum seeker’.
5) What examples of 'othering' are provided by the article?
Othering based on race has existed in mainstream media for as long as there has been mainstream media, but not always in the same form. Things have come a long way since Love Thy Neighbour, the seventies sitcom about a Black family living next door to a white family with a bigot for a man of the house. In today’s TV landscape, shows such as Man Like Mobeen, Top Boy and I 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 one anti-immigrant headline every ten days.
6) What is 'double consciousness'?
‘Double consciousness’ whereby people struggle to reconcile two nationalities or identities.
7) What are 'racial hierarchies'?
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?
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.
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