ELP – Representation

*Can texts ever be truly representative of groups of people?

*Who gets to represent a group and who doesn’t (who gets to tell what?)

*Is the act of representation problematic?

I think texts cannot ever be truly representative of groups of people are there is not only one true representation of a specific group. Additionally, not only is it difficult to cover an extensive range of groups without excluding minorities but also complying with the ethical restrictions without offending the audience can limit representation of many aspects withing groups (eg. certain cultural traditions that may be ethically unaccepted by many people today). Being able to capture large groups without bias and without the addition of individual perspective and prior experience is very difficult and personal interpretations may come across as offensive when presenting to a large cohort. 

Groups are often best represented if the representative has had experience as a member of the group. This way, the story is more believable, accurate and based on personal experience rather than the stereotypes or common ideologies surrounding the group. In class, we discussed the idea of white authors writing about the stories of coloured people and I agree with the outcome, that it is appropriate if the author mainly wants to write about his/her experiences as a white person as they may not produce the best content when speaking from a perspective they cannot relate to on a personal basis. We also discussed the consequences of forcing diversity amongst casts for films in particular and I think the same concept can apply to any type of literature. Without experience and a deeper understanding of a group and its cultures, the feeling created may not be ‘real’.

As a concept, I think the act of representation is not problematic if the representation itself does not stray too far from reality, that it arguably has the right intentions and that it does not offend the vast majority of an audience. Representation is important to develop understandings for foreign ideas and can be very beneficial in many circumstances.

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