Interim Report: 1.2.4 Parameters set by JKR/Authorial Intent

[Debbie]

Interim Report on 1.2.4, Parameters Set by JKR/Authorial Intent, and 
its two hangers-on, What Is Canon? and FAITH.

1.2.4 PARAMETERS SET BY JKR/AUTHORIAL INTENT (was 480, now 296 and 
shrinking):

This was a bloated, overstuffed category, enough to daunt any would-
be searcher.  I am deleting 1.2.4 for any post that is appropriately 
coded to other, more appropriate lit-crit categories, such as:

Foreshadowing, clues and misdirection (JKR put in those clues on 
purpose!)
Plot development (where is JKR going with this theme, why doesn't 
Harry ask questions?)
Character development (where is JKR taking this character; is it 
believable)
Effect of POV narration (e.g, JKR is painting a biased view of 
Character X because story is told from Harry's POV)
Adult or children's books
Portrayal of males/females/gays (e.g., JKR would/wouldn't write a 
gay character, is/should JKR create a PC world)
Differences between editions (JKR's point lost in translation)
Sex in the WW (JKR avoidance of sex)

I'm not done with this shifting, as I considered what to do while 
reading the first 200 posts or so.

Then there are the metatheme posts (what did she intend with the 
House Elf subplot, what is her message re 
morality/rulebreaking/ambition, etc.).  I think we should leave the 
metatheme ones with the theme and not in Authorial Intent.  If 
searchers wants to know what JKR intended on some issue, they will 
search the issue, not here.

Another collection of posts shade into Reader Response/Subversive 
Readings (Are our theories outside the scope of JKR's intent; 
reading subtext, does JKR adequately convey her intent, etc.).   My 
inclination is to put them into a renamed Authorial Intent/Reader 
Response/Subversive Readings category (most are already coded there, 
so it would not be a significant increase in number of posts).  
Thoughts?

That leaves the following categories of posts that don't have a 
clear other home:

JKR's writing process (fan influences on her writing)
Use of language, sloppiness (including a short but very good thread 
on her use of distinctive speech patterns for different characters)
These include the grammar posts I commented on the other day.  I'd 
like to find a home for these posts, but don't think there is one.

There are also some, but not many, posts discussing JKR's rules of 
magic and whether they work (the Parameters Set by JKR portion of 
the category).  Dot suggested with respect to a similar batch of 
posts (actually, they're probably the same ones).

> Dot:
> They don't really discuss rules or ethics, it's more about the 
> practical limitations on what is and isn't possible. I'll have a 
> think, but they may just end up in General Properties and Types of 
> Magic, possibly cross-coded to 1.2.4 Parameters set by JKR. 
Unless, 
> of course, I find some more in Gen. Prop. Types Magic (there are 
> already a handful of posts) in which case I may end up advocating 
a 
> new category... I'll come back to it.

I'm with you on the new category.  The posts discussing the 
parameters set by JKR on WW magic, i.e., the rules of magic and 
whether they work, seem very different from the other posts I want 
to leave here.  They are a distinct breed from the rest of the 
content.

1.2.4.1 WHAT IS CANON?  (was 98, now 66)

Very easy category.  Posts here should be responsive to the 
question.  Posts discussing when an interpretation strays too far 
from canon, or how fanfic taints (or assists) one's interpretation 
of canon, belong in Reader Response/Subversive Readings.  (I am one 
of the guilty ones; I coded an entire thread to both categories and 
have now paid the price.)

1.2.4.2 FAITH (12/12)

We're not coding every mention of FAITH, are we?  I did not delete 
anything because FAITH seems to have been cited primarily for 
Neville theories, and the 2 brief mentions were in Neville posts.  I 
may revisit this; the FAITH reference doesn't exactly jump out of 
the Memory Charm Symposium posts.


Careful mathematicians will have noticed that the numbers add up to 
about 590 posts, while the database claims there are 1088 posts.  Do 
I assume correctly that the other 498 posts are in 1.2.5 Reader 
Response/Subversive Readings and its associated acronyms (which I 
can't find in the database)?  They do add up to about this number.  
I suspect I've read a lot of these posts already.  There are 2 
distinct types:  posts that discuss this as a concept and examples, 
in which posters acknowledge that their reading is likely 
subversive.  Shall I ax the examples?  Or keep them in a 
subcategory?  It would be a handy little reference for some of the 
more outlandish theories to have graced the list.

I have responses to the various questions, but will put them in a 
different post, given the length of this one

Debbie
who concurs in the completion of the review process before going 
back to coding, but needs a new coding assignment nonetheless