What is Canon?

[maria_kirilenko]

No: HPFGUIDX 55899

Katy wrote: 
>I agree that RIGHT NOW we get to select what we believe and what we 
>do not believe. But the point i'm trying to make is, AFTER THE 
>SERIES IS COMPLETE...i think that needs more emphasis..

<snip 42 AFTER's <g> >

>AFTER the series is complete, is there any good reason that we 
>should NOT take her spoken words (all of the ones that do NOT 
>contradict anything else) as canon fact? THAT is what i want to know.

Me:

I don't think that there is a good reason not to do that, but maybe 
there's someone more creative than I am. <g>

Personally, I tend to view her interviews as canon even now, but only 
if her statements

a) don't contradict the books, either directly or indirectly (such as 
the '1000 people at Hogwarts' quote - that's difficult to reconcile 
with canon)

b) are not subject to various interpretations. FOr example, if she 
says that Lily was nee Evans, I don't see a reason not to believe 
her. If she says that Harry and Hermione don't have a date and that 
they're 'very platonic friends,' I take it into consideration, but 
never use it as a final argument. The same goes for 'Everyone is in 
love with the wrong people.' What does she mean, 'in love?' 
Or 'everyone?' 

c) are either just that - statements, or answers to specific, well-
framed questions. The question 'Do Harry and Hermione have a date' 
was just plain dumb, and didn't deserve any sort of coherent answer, 
even if JKR were, for some strange reason, tempted to answer it in 
full.

I guess that's it... maybe I'm missing something.

I think that AFTER the series is complete, *and* it becomes obvious 
that the Potterverse will not be expanded by new books, either 
by "Hogwarts, a History," which I, personally, am dying to see, or by 
some sort of MWPP adventures, or something else that would definitely 
be fun to read about, we should still have a right not to accept the 
kinds of statements that don't fit a-c. And NOW, I don't see the 
reason why we can't accept the interviews as canon... as long, as 
Gwen said, we take them with a grain of salt.

>It seems like it would be a good idea to establish some kind 
>of "canon rule" for the HP fandom now, so that it doesn't get 
>confused later on, when even more merchandise is released and more 
>interviews are given.

Well... such a rule would attempt to control what people think, so 
it's doomed to failure anyway. Most people, forgive me the 
generalization, tend to view interviews and the schoolbooks as canon, 
and also enjoy picking out mistakes and canon contradictions in the 
movies, <eg> so I doubt that there will be any problems... See how 
fast you've been converted?

Maria,
surprised to find herself in a pretty good mood