The Canonist Manifesto (long)

[frantyck at yahoo.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 29349

Wasn't absolutely sure where this post should go, but this list 
seemed least inappropriate.

Bear with this, it gets somewhere. :^l


The _Amadis de Gaula_, a chivalric romance (re)written in Castilian 
in the sixteenth century, was one of the most popular non-religious 
books in early modern Spain. It borrows a great deal from the 
Arthurian cycle, and is set in a notional Wales. It follows the 
adventures of a knight errant named Amadis, who resembles Lancelot in 
some ways. The story itself isn't as gripping and painful as that of 
Arthur, since it was purged of some of its racier elements -- marital 
infidelity, for one. The theme of the son defeating/superseding the 
father continues, though.

It was so popular it appeared in dozens of editions. What struck me 
about the later editions of the _Amadis_ is that they do not simply 
tell more and different stories about the main characters, such as 
Amadis himself, but tell the same *kind* of stories about new 
characters. Amadis had a son (who mortally wounded him in contest 
because they were both wearing anonymous armour, I think), and the 
next chunk of the romance deals with this son's adventures. And after 
this son comes another, and another, each with a new narrative 
devoted to his deeds, by a new author. This way, many authors made 
the most of a good story.

The way we discuss the HP books on this list and elsewhere shows that 
more than the stories, the characters and the HP world itself are 
what attract interest and loyalty. If Rowling is opening up a new 
world for our literary and imaginative exploration -- and yearning, 
for a forbidden continent -- then she does not have the right to the 
last word. The discoverer must ultimately yield to the developer.

Every single fan with an active imagination is a legitimate developer 
here. But at a semi-professional level, this is at least partly the 
role of fanfiction. Once the seven books of HP are completed (and the 
encyclopedia, hopefully), the stage on which the plots play out will 
change, if only in the imagination of fans. With canon complete and 
the main characters, such as survive, out of school, it will be 
harder to write fanfiction set in the Hogwarts years.

There will be a few choices for fanfiction writers (Luke-esque list):

# filler substories interwoven with Rowling's narrative of the 7 
Hogwarts years

# stories centred on non-canon characters during, before or after the 
Hogwarts years

# stories centred on canon characters before or after the Hogwarts 
years

# stories centred on descendants of canon characters after the 
Hogwarts years

Poorly-visualised list (sorry, Luke), but it's the big picture.

I don't know whether the HP universe has the staying power to survive 
the dilution of the original settings and characterisations. Probably 
the most adventurous and ambitious fanfic would be #4, following the 
descendants of canon characters into uncharted waters, creating a new 
front of 'discovery,' in a way, for each generation.

It would be absolutely fantastic if copyright restrictions were set 
aside to allow the creation of a whole literary succession to the HP 
7, similar to that of the _Amadis de Gaula_. This will be a type of 
literature not seen since publishing numbers skyrocketed and authors 
gained exclusive, defensive rights over their works.

Why bury a good story when it still has life? Why leave it in one set 
of hands?

What are the rights and reponsibilities of authors? What is more 
important, author or idea?

This brings a twist to the idea of how and *why* 'canon' must be 
defined. For the authors of the _Amadis_ and its successors, the 
rules of the chivalric romance were clear enough. In order to tell a 
story that your audience will believe and recognise, a storyteller 
must follow certain rules and conventions.

To illustrate with an extreme case, a man who is charged with beating 
his own wife might be let off or receive a lighter sentence if he 
makes the case that she was cheating on him with another man. In 
telling his story, the man is drawing upon strong social assumptions 
and claiming to have acted in accordance with them, even if the 
action was extreme. The woman, for her part, may tell the opposite 
story, drawing on yet other assumptions. The judge or jury must then 
weigh *two* fundamentally believable stories to decide, based on 
social assumptions again, which is the more 'right.' In doing so, 
they will be strengthening in the public eye those assumptions based 
on which they made their final judgement. Such as: fidelity and 
honesty come first. Or: violence is never ever appropriate.

Depends where you are.

So, with an eye to the future of the HP literary universe, 
definitions and compendia of 'canon' have two tasks:

First, to define what, literally, is said or implied, and what is 
not. This is, to some extent, a mechanical task, even if it is not at 
all easy (ask harassed Lexicon Steve). Funnily, and appropriately, 
the task of reconciling irreconcilables in HP canon is so much like 
the task facing medieval theologians in Christian canon...

Second, to set out basic principles (such as, what can magic do? How 
does it work? What can it not do? Is it in any way compatible with 
modern Muggle physics?) so that each future contributor to HP 
literature will not have to create a new theology so that his or her 
work has internal coherence.

This process has begun, because many questions on this list concern 
fundamentals such as the nature of magic and wizarding social 
relations. There are also a couple of imperialistic HP fanfiction 
universes, something like but not fully consistent with Rowling 
canon, such as Cassandra Claire's Draco-centric fics and Lori 
Summers' H/H adult fics, which, by sheer compelling popularity, are 
drawing other fanfic writers into their orbits. Who will win?

Without such basic ground rules, a lot of fanfiction is mutually 
incomprehensible and obviously amateur (and here I don't mean style 
or polish).

The opportunity lies in the fact that here, in just a handful of 
mailing lists, we have a good chunk of the seriously serious HP fan 
population, as well as those who write and read fanfiction.

I know all this sounds overeager and (therefore) reductionist in some 
ways, but the purpose is to raise questions about the nature of the 
HP literary phenomenon, whether or not the world of fanfic and active 
imagination should always remain legally-twilit and cyberbound. I 
don't like the term 'fanfiction,' it trivialises what may well turn 
out to be a powerful literary trend of the future. It does us no harm 
to look ahead.

The purpose is also to point out that the definition of 'canon' must 
be undertaken with an eye to this potential future. For instance, if 
what is shown in the HP movies does not contradict the fundamental 
principles of Rowling's vision, it should be treated as canonical.


I'm sure I'll regret this in the morning, but

READERS OF ALL COUNTRIES, UNITE! YOU HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE BUT YOUR 
CHAINS!

teehee.