This document provides context on colonialism, post-colonialist theory, and their relationship to globalization and media. It defines key concepts like colonialism, empire, cultural imperialism, and orientalism. It outlines the history of British colonialism and discusses post-colonialist thinkers like Edward Said, Frantz Fanon, and W.E.B. Du Bois. Their work examined how colonialism continues to impact formerly colonized societies and how media representations perpetuate colonial power dynamics. The document also discusses criticisms of post-colonialist theory and related topics like neocolonialism, diaspora, double consciousness, and the effects of globalization.

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Colonialism, Post-
colonialist Theory,
Globalisation
and the Media
KEYWORDS:
• Colonial/Colony
• Empire
• Cultural Imperialism
• Orientalism
• Diaspora Identity
• Double Consciousness
• Globalisation
• Neocolonialism
KEY THEORISTS:
• Edward Said (1995)
• Elizabeth Poole (2002)
• W. E. B. Du Bois (1903)
• J. Gallardo Alvarado (1997)
• Frantz Fanon (1961)

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A bit of CONTEXT…
Colonial/Colony
 Colony =
 Noun – a country or area under the full or partial political control of
another country and occupied settlers from that country.
 Colonial =
 Adjective - relating to or a characteristic of a colony or colonies.
 Noun – a native or inhabitant of a colony.
 Empire =
 Noun – an extensive group of states or countries ruled over by a single
monarch, an oligarchy or a sovereign state.
 Imperialism =
 Noun – a policy of extending a country’s power and influence through
colonisation, use of military force, or other means.

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A bit of CONTEXT…
What is colonialism?
 Colonialism is the act of one country taking control of another,
first by military force/action, then by occupying that nation
politically, economically, socially and culturally.
 Throughout history the world has seen many examples of
empires – when one country colonizes many others and builds
a kingdom countries or states that come under its ruling.
 Colonies and empires were built upon the profits of slavery of
the colonized population and the exploitation of the country’s
natural resources. The colonized got rich and powerful off the
back of this whilst the colonized remained subjugated.

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A bit of CONTEXT…
Why did colonisation happen?
 Social Darwinism – The theory that persons, groups, and races
are subject to the same laws a natural selection as Darwin
perceived in nature. Basically that the strongest survive and
flourish whilst the weakest die out of adapt to match the strongest.
 Eurocentrism – A political term coined in the 1980s. It referred to
the notion of European exceptionalism – a worldview centered on
Western civilisation as being greater than that of other
cultures/civilisations.
 ‘White man’s burden ‘ – links to Eurocentrism. The idea that
because of their superiority the Western white man felt obligated
to “civilise” non-European (mainly non-white) countries.

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A bit of CONTEXT…
History of colonies

6. +
A bit of CONTEXT…
History of the British Empire

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Rule, Britannia!
Chorus
Rule, Britannia! Britannia, rule the waves!
Britons never, never, never shall be
slaves.
When Britain first, at heaven’s command,
Arose from out the azure main,
This was the charter of the land,
And Guardian Angels sang this strain:
(Chorus)
The nations not so blest as thee
Must, in their turn, to tyrants fall,
While thou shalt flourish great and free:
The dread and envy of them all.
(Chorus)
Still more majestic shalt thou rise,
More dreadful from each foreign stroke,
As the loud blast that tears the skies
Serves but to root thy native oak.
(Chorus)
Thee haughty tyrants ne’er shall tame;
All their attempts to bend thee down
Will but arouse thy generous flame,
But work their woe and they renown.
(Chorus)
To thee belongs the rural reign;
The cities shall with commerce shine;
All thine shall be the subject main,
And every shore it circle, thine.
(Chorus)
The Muses, still with freedom found,
Shall to thy happy coasts repair.
Lest isle! With matchless beauty crowned,
And manly hearts to guard the fair.
Chorus
Rule, Britannia! Britannia, rule the waves!
Britons never, never, never shall be
slaves.

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What is Post-colonialist Theory?
 Post-colonialist Theory is about accounting for and combating the social,
political, and cultural impact of colonialism upon people and countries that were
once colonised.
 Post-colonialist believe that the effects of colonial empires is still felt by colonial
territories – culturally, socially (mainly through the media),politically and
economically.
 Post-colonialist argue that the media continues to represent non-white people
or ‘natives’ of colonial territories as less important or less civilized and that
white people or the colonialists as their saviors.
 Post-colonialists also argue that the way whites and non-whites or the colonist
and the colonised are represented (or not represented at all) in the media
reflects the fact that colonisation is still having an impact on these countries.
For example;
 Neighbours & Home & Away are two of Australia’s biggest soap operas (they are
exported to other countries, such as Britain) yet how many representations of Aboriginal
characters or Aboriginal culture are seen?

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Post-colonialist Theory
 Post-colonialists would argue that some of the areas where this
long term impact and continued impact is most obvious are; sport,
language and culture:
 English is widely spoken across the world since at one point in history
the British Empire extended across a quarter of the world. Spanish is
spoken widely across South America – again because this was a former
colony of Spain. What happened to the ‘mother tongue’ of these
countries?
 Australia, India, new Zealand, West Indies, Pakistan and South Africa
all excel at either cricket or rugby, or in some cases both, these are
sports exported by the British to these former colonial territories. Would
they have ever played this sports if it wasn’t for colonialism
 Post-colonialists would also argue that although these countries
are self-ruled and independent it is through the media (and
therefore culture) that there is still a sense of Western domination
or Cultural Imperialism.

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Cultural Imperialism
What is culture?
ArtifactsFood
Identity
Sports

11. +
Cultural Imperialism
Culture is also…
Discourses
EthosBeliefs &
Practices
Attitudes
& Values

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Cultural Imperialism
 Cultural Imperialism, post-colonialists would argue, is a process
that echo’s empire building:
 “While the tool of empire building was once a sword or a gun, today,
it is far more likely to be culture, consumer products and media
production.”
 This is the idea that the constant representations in these
previous colonised territories perpetuates colonialist ideas and
therefore the imperialism is cultural rather than physical.
 Cinema is an excellent example of cultural imperialism –
modern cinema is dominated by the West (USA mainly).
 Another example of cultural imperialism has been termed
Orientalism.

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Orientalism
 Orientalism was coined by Edward Said who argued that due to cultural
imperialism and the representation of East Asian characters and culture in
the media Eastern culture is habitually seen as inferior to Western culture.
 He argued that in the media the East and its culture is either represented
in a way that suggests fear or fascination.
 According to Said:
 The West terns Eastern culture as the ‘other’
 He contested this can be traced right back to Shakespeare, Byron and Chaucer
and now in contemporary media
 “At best when represented by Western culture, Eastern culture is seen as exotic,
which can be relatively harmless but the manner of the representation is more
concerning. The manner of representation is deliberate and aggressive
exploitation by Western culture which perceives itself as stronger and perpetuates
the doctrine that legitimizes the imbalance of power between West and East.”

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‘Political Islam’ or Islamaphobia
 Elizabeth Poole supports Edward Said’s notion of Orientalism and cultural
imperialism in her research into the representations of British Muslims in the
media.
 Poole argues that ‘Political Islam’ only emerged as a consequence of the
oppression of the colonised Islamic countries and that that has “allowed the
West to construct Islam as the new enemy”
 Poole has identified some obvious examples from films;
 Executive Decision (97) – portrays a radical Islamic group hijacking a plane carrying
nerve gas, with the plan to crash it into an American city.
 True Lies (95) – Two spies don’t realise they are married. When they do they team up
to take on a radical group of Muslims making terrorist threats.
 24 (sersi4, 6, & 8) all of these series featured Muslim characters as radical terrorists.
 Research into TV news broadcasting also shows that coverage related to Islam
and Muslims is dominated by issues of terrorism, radicalisation or illegal
immigration.

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Diaspora
 This is another theory that supports post-colonialism, cultural imperialism and orientalism.
 Diaspora refers to the movement of a population from it’s original homeland.
 Although this is not exactly what happens with colonisation, if another country comes into
your land and begins to change everything you do. From language and sports to politics
and religion then you can argue that you become dispersed from your culture rather than
the land itself (which some would argue is worse).
 Diaspora Identity is when people experience a sense of belonging to a culture which is
‘other’ to the dominant culture of the country they live in .
 Feelings of ‘otherness’ or alienation emphasised by the lack of representations or negative
representations in the media of the country they live in or its original culture.
 Some argue that Diaspora identity can be positive as well as negative, for example films
such as Bend it Like Beckham (02) and Bride and Prejudice (04) represented Asian culture
in a non-stereotypical way and non negative also.

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Double Consciousness
 This term/theory was first coined by W. E. B. Du Bois, an African American
sociologist, historian, civil-rights activist, author and editor.
 Du Bois described double consciousness as feeling as though you have more
than one social identity, which makes it difficult to develop a sense of self.
 Du Bois wrote:
 “It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at
oneself through the eyes of others, of measuring one’s soul by the tape of a world that
looks on in amused contempt and pity. One ever feels her two-ness, - an American, a
Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two reconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark
body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder. The history of the
American Negro is the history of this strife – this longing to attain self-conscious
manhood, to merge his double self into a better and truer self. In this merging he
wishes neither of the older selves to be lost. He does not wish to Africanize America, for
America has too much tot teach the world and Africa. He wouldn’t bleach his Negro
blood in a flood of white Americanism, for he knows that Negro blood has a message for
the world. He simply wishes to make it possible for a man to be both a Negro and and
American without being cursed and spit upon by his fellows, without having the doors of
opportunity closed roughly in his face.”
 This double consciousness lets the person see themselves through the
revelation of the other world - the world or culture of the colonizers. Their
behaviour and idea of their own identity is influenced by what the colonizers
think and is distorted through the negative image of their race .

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J. Gallardo Alvarado
 Similar to Edward Said, Alvarado researched the
representations of black people in mainstream media.
 He suggested that there are only 4 types or themes of
representations accepted for black people in Western,
mainstream media:
 The Humourous – comedians such as Lenny Henry
 The Exotic – models such as Naomi Campbell
 The pitied – representations of Africa such as Live Aid
 The dangerous – inner city gangs

18. +
Frantz Fanon
 Fanon is a psychiatrist who applied psychiatric analysis to
colonialism.
 He described colonialism as essentially destructive and you
can link some of what he says to diaspora identity.
 Fanon said:
 “Its [colonialism] societal effects – the imposition of a subjugating
colonial identity – are harmful to the mental health of native people.
The ideological essence of colonialism is the systematic denial of all
attributes of humanity of colonised people.”

19. +
Effects of Colonialism -
Globalisation
 Post-colonialists would argue that some of the effects of colonialism are;
Orientalism, Diaspora, and Double Consciousness as we have already
looked at.
 However, some would also argue that the trend for Globalisation is as a
direct result of colonialism and cultural imperialism and therefore that it is
not wholly a good thing as some theorists and commentators argue.
 Globalisation is the theory that the world has shrunk and that once distant
countries are becoming more and more inter-related and connected due
media and technology.
 Marshall McLuhan & Quentin Fiore (1967) coined the term “global village”
which suggested that due to media and technology people all over the
world can communicate with one another, often simultaneously, as if they
all lived in the same village.
 The concern for some theorists about globalisation is similar to the fear
post-colonialists have about cultural imperialism – that local cultures are
eroded and replaced with one single ‘standard’ culture. This is called
Cultural Homegenisation.

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Neocolonialism
 Some theorists argue that although there are no longer any
empires or colonies that something similar has continued to
happen (since WWII) and is still happening in the contemporary
world – they call this neocolonialism.
 Neocolonialists argue that the relationship between ‘stronger’ and
‘weaker’ countries is similar to the exploitation that occurred during
colonialism. That it is still unfair and unbalanced. The only
difference being that the ‘stronger’ countries no longer have to
maintain or build the weaker countries up. They no longer have
any responsibility to them as imperial rulers. They can simply
exploit now.
 Neocolonialists would argue that the political and economic
systems in the developed world and how developed countries
treat developing countries echoes the imperialism of the past.

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Criticism of post-colonialism
 The key criticism of post-colonialism is that since it focuses so
much on the loss of ‘original’ culture of colonised territories
there is some suggestion that national identity is a shared,
common experience that is the same for everyone.
 Critics use examples of the vast differences in culture and
language of various tribes of Africa. They are all Africans, but
their sense of national identity is not the same for all.
 Critics would argue that this shows a flaw in post-colonialist
theory since the ‘original’ culture of colonised territories was
never the same for all in the first place.

22. +
Bring to next lesson…
 Mind map/notes on all the thing you consider to be a part of
British culture.
 Mind/map notes on all the things you consider to be part of
another national culture (pick one of you own)
Consider for next lesson….
 How might the James Bond franchise be said to impose
cultural imperialism?
 How are Western women represented in the media compared
to Eastern women?