On the nature of theories/MAGIC DISHWASHER

[Grey Wolf]

No: HPFGUIDX 47651

Eloise wrote:
> I'm sorry; as far as I'm concerned, *canon* refers to a writer's 
> works, not to their opinions of or comments on those works..
> 
> And that, as far as I am aware is the generally accepted view of 
> canon on this list.

Far from the truth. The matter is still open, and there have been 
discussions before on what can be considered canon. And, considering 
the amount of theories built upon canon from interviews, I think that 
it is more widely held Goat's onion of canon:

"The set of texts carrying at least some authority includes the 
following:

1.	UK editions of PS, CoS, PoA and GoF (unmarked 2nd edition). (1st 
ed GoF has been ruled out; all translations, including US, and talking 
books should be considered derivatives.) 
2.	QA and FB 
3.	JKR's press releases 
4.	Direct interviews with JKR (printed and recorded). (Presently, I 
have about 70 linked from my site - and these are only the ones I've 
managed to find on the internet!) 
5.	Indirect interviews with JKR (i.e., the authors says what Rowling 
told him but doesn't give a direct quote.) 
6.	The film, standard edition 
7.	The film, director's cut (Not yet available; possibly never - but 
we can always hope and petition)


All of these carry a certain weight and can convey new information from 
JKR; OTOH, all of them have certain limitations. In a sense, all may be 
considered canonical and at least somewhat authoritative - but not 
equally so. I would suggest a sort of "onion ring" concept, in which we 
give interpretative priority" (The long version of the "onion ring" can 
be found at http://www.geocities.com/aberforths_goat/canon.htm) (This 
is probably property of Aberforth's Goat).


> I know there is some disagreement over this, but we have discussed 
> authorial intent before and I am firmly in the camp which believes 
> that once a work is in the public domain, it has an independent 
> existence and although its author may have interesting things to say 
> about it, his/her interpretation is not the only valid one.

Very well - it is your right, of course. I am in the oposite camp, 
which says that whatever the author says defines their world, and still 
is canon. From then on, we can only agree to disagree.

Hope that helps,

Grey Wolf, who won't bother with the rest of the post - the viewpoints 
are simply too different and he know no easy way of explaining his 
point of view to Eloise