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Representation

Definition

“How (in what ways) something is depicted. However ‘realistic’ texts may seem to be, they involve some form of transformation. Representations are unavoidably selective (none can ever ‘show the whole picture’), and within a limited frame, some things are foregrounded and others backgrounded: see also framing; generic representation; selective representation; stylization. In factual genres in the mass media, critics understandably focus on issues such as truth, accuracy, bias, and distortion (see also reflectionism), or on whose realities are being represented and whose are being denied. See also dominant ideology; manipulative model; stereotyping; symbolic erasure.”

Definition source: representation. Oxford Reference. Retrieved 30 Jan.

Stakes

part of: discrimination

related to: silences

When groups, cultures, and histories are mis- or underrepresented, it skews narratives, lacking multiple perspectives.

Where does it occur in the lifecycle?

1 - Set up

2 - Collection

3 - Process

Questions to consider throughout your work

  • Who is represented in the scholarship and sources that are used?
  • Who is and who is not represented in your research funding outline?
  • Who is and who is not represented in your data?
  • Are you providing each description the same amount of detail and representation (length of description)?
  • Be mindful of how these categories affect your research: does creating the category ‘ethnic category’ perpetuate the views of the colonial governments – and is this what you want in your research? What is its value and implications?

Examples

  • Exploring Slave Trade in Asia: https://exploringslavetradeinasia.com/
    • Including Asia into the historical narrative of slavery to counterbalance the enormous representation of the Atlantic in histories of enslavement.
  • Globalise: https://globalise.huygens.knaw.nl/
    • Actively scouts persons data that relates to non-Europeans, and non-employees of the Dutch East India Company to counterbalance the vast availability of information on VOC Company personnel.
  • Kenniscentrum Immaterieel Erfgoed: https://www.immaterieelerfgoed.nl/
    • Focusing on immaterial heritage, which is often overshadowed by material heritage.

Good-better-best practices

Good Better Best
Discuss who and who is not represented in all aspects of your research: from the source data to your results and the impact it can have on how the data you create is used in the future. Highlight underrepresented voices in your data. Make equitable representation an objective in the research plan and implement it.
Work together with affected communities underrepresented in your research. See: Collaboration. “Taking the time to locate and describe hidden voices and to correct past failures to respectfully describe the histories of Black communities. Following a More Product, Less Process (MPLP) or iterative processing approach, this means considering past failures of care and the possibility of uncovering hidden voices among the factors for deciding when prioritizing which collections – or portions of collections – should receive work above and beyond baseline processing tiers.”1
If you are aware of means to make your data more equitable in terms of representation, but have been unable to implement them, make these means known to users.

Resources

  • Luthra, Mrinalini, and Brecht Nijman. “Lost in Translation? Approaches to Gender Representation in Multilingual Archives.” In Proceedings of the 2nd International Workshop on Gender-Inclusive Translation Technologies, edited by Beatrice Savoldi, Janiça Hackenbuchner, Luisa Bentivogli, Joke Daems, Eva Vanmassenhove, and Jasmijn Bastings, 42–55. Sheffield, United Kingdom: European Association for Machine Translation (EAMT), 2024. https://aclanthology.org/2024.gitt-1.5.

  1. Taken from Archives for Black Lives, Anti-Racist Description Resources (2019). ↩