How are we affected by texts?
Texts provide us with information about this world, whether it is biased or not, it is still information. From reading and analysing this nineteen-century soap advertisement, I realised how racist and biased people were back then. This is because the advertisement’s purpose is to promote Pear’s Soap, and the fact that they try to sell the item by showing how a black child becomes white after using the soap tells me how undesirable being black was during the time context of the 19th Century. Texts like this advertisement tell me how people did not that they were being racist back then because there was no racial equality.
How does language representation social distinctions and identities?
Since this is an advertisement, it uses visual as well as verbal language to represent its ideas. It uses the analogy of washing an ebony child white with their soap, emphasizing the cleansing effect of the soap. However, this also highlights the social value of how the black skin tone is inferior compared to the white skin tone. This then presents the social distinctions between whites and blacks, with black identity being undesirable.
How can texts offer multiple perspectives of a single issue, topic or theme?
When this advertisement was released in the 19th century, an ebony person will most likely feel ashamed of being black when he or she saw the advertisement, as it was a time where racial equality was non-existent. However, a white person viewing the advertisement will not find this advertisement unusual, and probably feel amused by it, since it is a social norm that black populations are always seen as inferior compared to white populations. In this way, the same advertisement can be viewed from different perspectives and have different reactions from varied groups of people.
How do texts reflect, represent or form a part of cultures? How do representations reveal and conceal underlying values or attitudes?
This Pear’s Soap advertisement reflects the social attitudes in 19th century England where the white population was viewed as more dominant in society compared to the blacks. As we can see from the advertisement, after getting cleaned thoroughly, the black child smiled happily as if he gained social recognition from being white. This reflects how English
culture then was unaccepting of the blacks, and reveals the underlying value that being white meant you were socially superior.
Is the act of representation problematic?
I think it is seriously problematic, as it ill-represented the ebony population as inferior compared to the white population. This act also undoubtedly caused even more social problems between different races, since it was already a society when racism was considered acceptable.
