the dove is never free

In her work on literary empathy, Suzanne Keen observes that, although we associate western leftists with ideas about the importance of literature, in fact when push comes to shove it tends to be western conservatives who articulate arguments about the significance of representation, while leftists end up going, "it's just {a book, cartoons, music, words}, not important, not worth killing over/dying for."

While I do think we tend to err in directly conflating representation with real life, as in conservative arguments against violent video games or shock metal, I'm also increasingly finding that I do think representations are real, important, and a site where we should expect revolutionary conflict to surface, rather than being surprised by it. Representations are sites of epistemological violence, just as unjust incarceration, policing, and economic policies are sites of bodily violence. All the violences, together in systems, are what generate violent responses. Linkages might not be 1:1, because representation can be kinky and sideways and peculiar, but I think we've got to start to know that connections are always present and active.