Tuesday 22 March 2011

Blog Task: Identity - Constructing the Other

The newspaper shown on the right is The Guardian, scanned from the edition printed for Monday 14.03.11.

Othering is more subtle in The Guardian than perhaps in tabloids, and I'm not sure it is fully intentional- but it occurs nonetheless. This in itself is a reflection on the audience. Because the audience believe they are more informed than a tabloid reader, the paper encourages this belief by allowing them to feel superior by purposely making gimmicks like othering more subtle, and using Standard English rather than slang.

I noticed this before I fully analysed it and attributed it to othering; the headline 'Europeans are liberal, anxious- and don't trust politics' infers the idea that we are separate to Europe. The truth is that we are geographically part of Europe, and of course one of the big political players in Europe; even if at times we like to pretend we are still a superpower in our own right. I think this article seems to back that up to some extent also. It speaks as if the UK is an independent entity not part of Europe.

The idea of it being 'the other' is reinforced by the Sandals advert adjacent. Offering us the chance to visit these 'Europeans' suggests they are there as the other to go see/visit, but not one of us.
One of the other places where I have witnessed othering is in the features on Japan considering the incredibly positive adverts alongside them.

After reading such depressing and terrible news, one finds retreat in the advert displayed on the right of the map. The advert implies that 'we are okay' because we're not Japan, and that we are able to 'put our feet up this spring'.

A more intrinsic connection is demonstrated on the page to the right. The article discusses how some people in Japan have no power or communications and are completely cut off, while Sky immediately offers us an unlimited lifestyle in terms of our access to communications. It gives us the illusion of completeness, as we appear to have everything in abundance just because we are in a better position than those in Japan.
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