[HPforGrownups] Canon

[Dave Hardenbrook]

No: HPFGUIDX 78046


Tuesday, August 19, 2003, 3:10:30 PM, Donna wrote:

D> Do forgive me for being dense, but everyone seems to mention canon.  
D> Where is this canon?  I have only been a member of the group a very 
D> short time.  I would like to access this canon.

"Canon" is a general term in various literary venues.  It originated
as a biblical term: The "Canon" was the official holy scriptures that
the Christian Priesthood back in the First Millennium declared to be
"The Word of God".  The other gospels -- "The Apocrypha" -- were
deemed unofficial and excluded from the Bible.

This scheme has carried over to literary fandoms, such as
Sherlock Holmes or Harry Potter: In the analogy, the "Canon" is
defined as everything that is "the word of the god" of that
universe.  In HP's case, the "goddess" is JKR, so her writings and
statements (the books + interviews) are the "Canon".  The "Apocrypha"
would be everything else -- The pastiches, or as we more commonly refer
to them as, "fanfiction".

Of course, this all tongue-and-cheek to a certain extent; although
some literary fandoms, such as the Oz community, take it much more
seriously, often getting into raging arguments over what is really the
"Real" Oz.  (A bit ironic since L. Frank Baum, unlike JKR, never had a
"grand scheme" in mind for his series, and strove only "to please a
child".)

-- 
Dave