Literary representation is the umbrella term for the plethora of ideas, characters and happenings being presented to the readers through words in books and the way these get ‘re-presented’ shapes ways of thinking and living beyond our initial beliefs.
Representation in books matters more than we as readers ought to think, in order to perceive and present an inclusive and accurate description of the world we live in we need to have some examples of the same lives and realities that surround us.
Most of the time readers have been accustomed to a stereotypical representation of diversities (differences in racial, ethnicity, background, sexual orientation and beliefs ) with black people always being linked to subjects such as criminality and violence or LGBTQ people ending with a tragic or secretive story to call their ‘own’.
In recent times, I wonder if things started to take a more truthful and honest note in their storytelling and include a truthful representation in them.
Dymphna Flynn, ex BBC Books producer and book journalist explained why representation is important in books nowadays more than ever, she said: “ It is important as our population changes, readers want to see themselves reflected in novels, and also want to broaden their horizons”
For people to see themselves and be able to relate to and recognise their own colours in this wide and distracting white canvas that is the world is so important and monumental.
So what are the most efficient ways for people to discover those stories that depict their own colours?
On this Flynn said: “ Book prizes are brilliant ways for readers to discover new voices, in the 1980s Indian writers like Salman Rushdie and Arundhati Roy became hugely popular due to their Booker Prize wins. Sarah Waters gained a great following with her lesbian historical fiction in the late 1990s, but contemporary stories especially from black and other ethnic minorities have been less represented.
She added: “Readers have become much more interested in non-homogenous stories and authors in the last ten years. There has been an underrepresentation of BAME authors in publishing, with authors such as Bernardine Evaristo being ignored until her groundbreaking Booker prize win with her eighth novel, Girl, Woman, Other in 2019.”
When reading people get influenced in their way of thinking, when a story moves you, something deep inside shifts, when reading about something that goes beyond our knowledge we get spell-bound by the wonders of how getting educated truly makes us feel. So if we include diversity in books, will we get educated on certain subjects? Will people finally stop and educate themselves before speaking up on matters just for showing some fake and sometimes ignorant activism?
Especially coming from majority groups, there is no better way than reading a wide range of books that portray a rightful representation than to really understand the challenges minority groups face on a daily.
Empathy comes from understanding.
Flynn said: “Yes. Readers read because they want to find out about the world and to read about others’ experiences, to better understand themselves as well. So how we handle racism, and what it’s like for say, a young black man to walk the streets of London is well described in books like Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson.”
“Damian Barr’s You Will be Safe here is a story of a queer boy sent to a camp that ‘turns boys into men’ and Barr also won praise for his memoir of growing up gay and working-class in Glasgow. “
“Reading allows us to learn about what it is to be human.”
There is no better way to put it.
When reading we find ourselves completely bare before the words that will probably turn us into a different person from the one we were when our eyes gazed upon the first word or sentence.
It is marvellous to see how books impact our daily lives, so why should we base ourselves solely on what we know when we could find differences to bring ourselves together, as, before anything, we need to remember we are indeed human.
The impact this will have on future generations is immense.
I would have loved to be able to read about diverse lives when I was little, surely I would have understood the forever changing kaleidoscope vision of reality in a more sincere and effective way.
This is why representation is so important, to make our spirits kinder in understanding and make people understand and feel accepted in the fact that every difference can be valid and important before not only the eyes of the others but especially one’s own.
Flynn explained how beneficial it will be for future generations to be represented: “Undoubtedly future generations will learn how it was to be young and black, or a queer woman, in the twentieth century.
Novels are a good insight into communities as well as a record of the day today and game-changers like Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race will show a moment in time when things began to move forwards.”
Even though it seems like more and more people are starting to recognise the importance of representation in writing, both from authors and readers, it is still important to keep on talking about it and to bring light to the cultural and educational impact this has on many lives and more.
People still struggle to find their place in the world let alone be represented on paper and more, people with disabilities still lack a strong presence in books, as are young black men, young working-class men and queer women as also stated by Dymphna Flynn.
It is so important for people to open up a story and be able to imagine themselves as the main character, especially when the world we live in so desperately tries to numb one’s voice and presence.
The conversation about representation should never cease to exist and improve.
To be seen is to be acknowledged, to be represented is to be heard and understood.
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