In his book Ain’t No Black In The Union, Jack (1987), Gilroy explored the anxiety and uncertainty left in the UK following the death of colonialism.
Though The British Empire has collapsed, Gilroy argues that we still uphold many subtle racial prejudices, which are ideologically encoded in media products.
For Gilroy, we are now living in a postcolonial era, where black and white represent a blunt and ideologically manipulative binary.
Key word: othering
Othering refers to where an individual or group of people is 'cast off' by society. It suggests that we can split the world down the the middle, int to the same and the other. We can also think of this as an 'us and them' mentality.
Who decides what is the same and what is the other? Who decides what is normal, acceptable and hegenomically tolerated? These dominant ideologies are of course constructed and reinforced though a range of societal influences.
Othering can be used to force an audience to despise or to fear a group of people. But it can also cause us to pity and to feel sorry for them. In both cases, a powerful binary opposition between us and them is constructed, further reinforcing arguably blunt and harmful stereotypes.
How are postcolonial ideological perspectives encoded in the above online banner advert? Make reference to:
- Composition
- Audience positioning
- Lexis
- Hermeneutic codes
- Use of close up positions audience directly in front of Nancy's eyes.
- Use of child's name allows the audience to feel sympathy for her. We know her identity, and we are being put in to a difficult situation, where we must choose
- Use of stereotypically British name such as Nancy allows the white target audience to easily identify with her
- The name Nancy, and indeed Claudia is a hang up of Africa's colonial history
- "I am six" - 1st person speech, emphasising her youth and the binary opposition created between youth and work