Can texts ever be truly representative of groups of people?

Rarely. The main group in a text is always better-represented than the minor groups. But I have seen many good works which almost correctly represent every group that appeared in the text. I think it’s okay if it’s incomplete if the incomplete part is correct. Some stereotype is more correct (and updated) than others.

Who gets to represent a group and who doesn’t?

You can only represent yourself even if you try to represent others. For example, if an American writes about Asian, it’s not representing Asian, it’s representing how Americans see Asians. Those books are very interesting to read. I actually like to read those, to see familiar things through an alien lens. But just remember to keep in mind that the text is only representing the authors. Otherwise, you would get a wrong image and cause potential conflict.

#representation #LL #language