[HPforGrownups] Re: What is Canon?

[Katy Cartee]

No: HPFGUIDX 56049

bboy_mn wrote:

> I have to go back to the 'wizards can't choose their animagus form'
> issue. I don't consider JKR's statement to date on this issue as canon
> because she hasn't said it point blank as a statement of fact.

At this point in time, i agree! I'm talking about making her words "pseudo-canon" AFTER the series is complete. When we DO know for sure what she meant and didn't mean by her words. 

> She said it in more than one interview (to the best of my memory) in 
> a way that would lead us to this reasonable conclusion. But it is 
> just that, OUR conclusion based on what we see as a reasonable 
> interpretation of what she said. That is no more valid or canonical 
> than a televangelist interpretation of the Bible.

Or a Biblical scholar's interpretation for that matter...

> On the other hand, if JKR says that James was a Gryffindor, then there
> is not room for interpretation, if she states it as a fact, then it's
> a fact. That is what I would consider canon, statements of fact by the
> author. 

Actually no, statements of fact by the author do not fit the definition of "canon." That has been confirmed by many members of this list. That is why i like including her statements into the category of "psuedo-canon." But only after the series is finished.

> So I will agree we need to be cautious about how literally we take
> JKR's statements, but I also say the when she states a clear fact, it
> becomes gospel. 

Gospel, yes. Canon, no. 

The definition of canon, once more:
"The works of a writer that have been accepted as authentic."

~Katy~

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