OSP: Paul Gilroy - Postcolonial theory and diasporic identity

 Go to our Media Factsheet archive on the Media Shared drive and open Factsheet 170: Gilroy – Ethnicity and Postcolonial Theory. Our Media Factsheet archive is on the Media Shared drive: M:\Resources\A Level\Media Factsheets or you can access it online here using your Greenford Google login.

Read the Factsheet and complete the following questions/tasks:

1) How does Gilroy suggest racial identities are constructed?
He says that they are historically constructed.

2) What does Gilroy suggest regarding the causes and history of racism?
They were formed during the colonisation, slavery, etc. periods in which have been passed down over time. 

3) What is ethnic absolutism and why is Gilroy opposed to it?
It is when humans are seen as another being due to them being different to others in which causes him to oppose this idea as it goes against his argument that race causes race.

4) How does Gilroy view diasporic identity?
Gilroy views diasporic identity as something that cannot be reversed as you are born from the roots of a culture.

5) What did Gilroy suggest was the dominant representation of black Britons in the 1980s (when the Voice newspaper was first launched)?

"the dominant representation of black Britons was as "external and estranged from the imagined community that is the nation".”

6) Gilroy argues diaspora challenges national ideologies. What are some of the negative effects of this?
It is written :"negative experiences of exclusion, exposure to regressive ideologies and marginalisation will also create an identity which is then shared within the diasporic community and perhaps from the origin country."

7) Complete the first activity on page 3: How might diasporic communities use the media to stay connected to their cultural identity? E.g. digital media - offer specific examples.
Through double consciousness and how black people are represented in the media via other black people creating a more personal relationship between the audience and what is being shown on screen.

8) Why does Gilroy suggest slavery is important in diasporic identity?
He says that "slavery is a key and influential part of the black culture and changed the diasporic identities irrevocably."

9) How might representations in the media reinforce the idea of ‘double consciousness’ for black people in the UK or US?
We can see through shows and how in those shows they represent their character being a part of the black community such as using Alvarado's theory of having the comedian character, the native and such.

10) Finally, complete the second activity on page 3: Watch the trailer for Hidden Figures and discuss how the film attempts to challenge ‘double consciousness’ and the stereotypical representation of black American women.

We can see that the character of the black American woman being underestimated however being the intelligent along with other black American women coming together to become stronger in a "strength in numbers".