Abstract

This paper examines the ideological construction of Africa through a critical discourse analysis of news on Africa in the British press. Through a comparative analysis of two British papers with opposing ideological positions, it demonstrates that there is a stereotypical, naturalized and dominant discourse on Africa. The analysis illustrates how the features of this discourse combine to produce particular meanings which give rise to a neo-colonial racist representation of Africa and Africans. The role of this discourse in reproducing the racist perceptions of Africa and Africans in Western society and in maintaining Western hegemony is discussed; and the question of this discourse's relationship to other racist discourses in European society is also raised. This paper argues that the entrenched stability of this discourse holds little possibility for challenge or transformation.