Politics and Society

Late in the list comes representar, and it looks like a word that needs no thought. In the sentence printed here it does exactly what « represent » does: representa o distrito desde a última eleição, he has sat for the district since the last election, speaking for people who are not in the room. But Portuguese gave the same verb a second trade, and that one is the older of the two. Representar is also what actors do. Aquele ator representa muito bem says that he acts well; representar um papel is to play a part; and the noun uma representação can be an evening of theatre as easily as a body of people sent to put a case. English keeps the two jobs apart and has never let them mix: we « represent » a constituency and we « act » or « play » a role, while « a representation » is a likeness, a complaint or a claim, never a performance. The consequence for reading is small and sharp. Representar standing alone, with no district and no ministry anywhere near it, may well be about a stage.