What is Canon?

[hp_lexicon]

No: HPFGUIDX 56159

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Katy Cartee" <rainbow at r...> 
wrote:

> I suppose the Lexicon would be that starting point, although i 
just looked at it for the first time today, so i'm not sure of 
everything it contains as of yet. Here is the URL for it if you want 
to check it out:
> http://www.i2k.com/~svderark/lexicon/
> 
> I'm a little confused though. Steve, the writer of the Lexicon, 
uses the following as his list of "canon" sources:
> 
> 1) the novels and the "school books" (Fantastic Beasts and 
Quidditch Through the Ages) 
> 2) the illustrations in the "school books" (which were drawn by 
Rowling herself) but not the pictures in the novels 
> 3) interviews with Rowling where her actual words are given 
> 4) sections of the film/games/etc. which are known to be written 
by or okayed by Rowling (so far the flashback sequence in SS/f 
showing Lily's death is the only information that fits this criteria 
that we know of)

It's important to understand why I define canon at all. I am forced 
constantly to make decisions about what facts to include in the 
Lexicon andd what to leave out. I try extremely hard to avoid the 
kind of interpolations and guesses that are the heart and soul of 
this list. I do that not to suggest that they aren't worth doing -- 
I LOVE that sort of thing. But for the Lexicon, I need to have 
criteria by which I decide what will be included and what won't. So 
my definition of canon will probably not work for this list. I don't 
have any use for "pseudo-canon"...it either fits in the Lexicon or 
it doesn't. So I'm a little more matter of fact about it. If Rowling 
said it, it's canon; if she didn't, it isn't. Since she wrote the 
list of Famous Witches and Wizards for the computer games, they are 
canon, even though they don't agree with some facts in other 
sources. In my way of defining things, I list both. I'm sure you can 
see where listing both wouldn't cut it for your purposes. But for 
something like the Lexicon, it works.

Steve
of the Lexicon