canonical literature/texts

In the article, "Mulitilingual academic literacies: pedagogical foundations for code meshing in primary higher education" by S. Michael Luna and A. Suresh Canagarajah, the thing that stood out for me wasn't so much the overall discussion of code meshing but rather the statement "desires a text that does not present a condescending view of stereotypical or glorified minority culture" in regards to the selection of multilingual texts for use in classrooms. Although I think it is great to be able to use multilingual text and introduce students to other cultures and languages, however, I'm always hesistant when using "representations" of a culture and/or language becuase one run the risk of stereotyping and seeing a narrow picture of a language/culture. I feel this way or have reservations regarding the use of "representatives" of a culture/language because based on my own experience, I often found it frustrating that some of the "canon" that are used to represent or often reference as being good sources of "Asian American" text or writing, names such as Amy Tan come up. Although there is nothing wrong with Tan and her writing, she has become a canon of writing for this particular group and her name is often mentioned. I find it problematic because although she is an Asian American, she does not represent all of Asian Americans and their culture. Moreover, often time than not, Asians and Asian Americans are often lumped into one homogenous group or when there is differentiation it is usually just broken down to groups such as Chinese, Korean Japans, etc.. As an Southeast Asian American, although I could relate to Amy Tan and some of the things she talks and writes about, I still felt that she did not represent me. However, whenever, I hear people talk about Asian American literature or writers, there is the tendency to present just certain writers and certain cultures and then those same authors get mentioned over and referenced over and over. Thus limiting the "literature" to these "canons" multilingual/multicultural text. I am not opposed to the practice but I struggle with the prospect that we would still be representing culture and language in a "partial" view that is still adhering to a narrow definition of certain standards and representations of what is considered to a standard representation of a language or culture. I don't know...arrrhhhhh...my words fail me...because i don't think nor feel like i've made my point clear enough.....arrrrhgggg....basically what I'm saying is we need to be careful of the choice of texts and be cautious as to how those texts are used and be willing to look beyond the "canons" simply because there are voices and stories that are not being heard or represented....arrrrhhhhhhhhh....still not happy with this blog post cuz i don't think i have articulated myself well enough regarding this issue.....ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!