Canon (fiction)

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In the case of fictional works , the canon represents that material which is recognized as officially valid for the fictional universe . The term is often used as an antonym to fan fiction , whereby the canon here is “the original work from which the fan fiction author borrows”. Although canon is a noun in German, the term is also used colloquially as a predicative addition ("canon being" like "part of the canon", e.g. "this book / event is not canon!").

origin

The concept of the canon comes from religion, where the biblical canon was drawn up many centuries ago. The writings not included in the canon are referred to here as apocrypha . The term was adopted in literature at the beginning of the twentieth century. Ronald Knox used it as an analogy in the 1911 essay Studies in the Literature of Sherlock Holmes to distinguish Arthur Conan Doyle's works from the pastiches of other authors. Since that first use for the Sherlock Holmes stories, which expressed their enormous place in society, the term has been used for many media franchises - such as Star Trek , Star Wars , Mass Effect and Doctor Who - in which many stories in different Media have been told some of which contradict or appear to contradict each other.

Types of Canonicality

If there are several officially declared works or original media, it may be unclear which of them is canonical. This can be avoided, firstly by explicitly excluding certain works from the canon (such as in Star Trek ), secondly through different levels of canonicality (as in the case of Star Wars up to two years after the takeover of LucasFilm Ltd. by Disney ) or thirdly by the individual media have different continuities (e.g. with Battlestar Galactica ).

In the case of a reboot , which generally involves completely reimagining the continuity of the franchise, creating a canon has particular priority. However, this can be problematic - for example, the introduction of an alternate timeline and the major change in characters in the film Star Trek (2009) have been criticized by fans because it upset the previous canon of the universe. When a new universe of a franchise is created, canon means that other writers and directors consider other works in the canon for their story. The works within a canon should not contradict each other in terms of content.

In the event that different media of the same franchise have different continuities, the reception of one may very well have an impact on the other. Take characters as an example - Phil Coulson was created for the Marvel Cinematic Universe , but was also introduced into Marvel's comic book universe due to his popularity. Marcus Williams from the first Kick-Ass film was also included in the associated comics after the film was successful, but his role was modified according to the different developments in the story. The middle name of James T. Kirk , Tiberius , originally comes from the non-Star Trek canon series The Enterprise and was later adopted in the canonical films.

Examples

The official Star Trek website describes the canon of this universe as "the events that take place in the real-life films and episodes". So the television series Spaceship Enterprise , Spaceship Enterprise: The Next Century , Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , Star Trek: Spaceship Voyager , Star Trek: Enterprise and the movies together make up the canon. Events, characters and storylines from the accompanying books, comics, video games and other media are excluded from the canon. However, the website states that “the canon is not set in stone”.

The Star Wars canon had several levels until 2014. The highest level was formed from the then six films and statements by George Lucas , while the expanded universe was on a lower level. The complex system was managed by a single Lucasfilm employee in 2008 . In April 2014 it was announced that the previous canon would be decoupled and labeled as an alternative timeline under the name Legends , while a new canon with a new Expanded Universe would be created. Virtually all new companion media, starting with the Star Wars Rebels series and novels like Tarkin in 2014, will have the same canonicality as the films.

There is also disagreement over the canon of Harry Potter . While the books undoubtedly form the core of the canon, for many fans everything that author Joanne K. Rowling has verified outside of them is also part of the canon (for example in interviews, on her website or via Twitter ). So Pottermore is usually the only website that is added to the canon, since Rowling is the founder and publishes new information there - but there is information there that contradicts the books. There is even greater disagreement over whether websites like Warner Bros. , which are also "official", are also part of the canon. Example: A poster published on the official website for Harry Potter posters operated by Warner showed the magic wand maker, known in the books only as Gregorowitsch, under the name Mykew Gregorovitch (German Mykew Gregorowitsch ). While the English Harry Potter Wiki recognizes this first name as a canon, some German fan sites are against including this information in the canon. According to the author, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is part of the canon, but is largely not recognized as such in the fan base due to blatant contradictions to the (other) canon.

Russell T Davies , who revived Doctor Who in 2005, is an avowed opponent of a canon concept . He claims not to think about a strict canon for the series and its spin-offs.

Fanon

Fan fiction is generally not considered part of the canon. However, certain ideas expressed in it can be widely accepted in fan circles, what is referred to by them as "fanon" (a portmanteau word from fan and canon ).

See also

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Web links

Wiktionary: Canon  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Parrish: Inventing a Universe: Reading and writing Internet fan fiction. P. 32.
  2. ↑ Meredith McCardle: Fan Fiction, Fandom, and Fanfare: What's All the Fuss. ( Memento of July 3, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) p. 3.
  3. ^ Lee Martin McDonald: The Biblical Canon: Its Origin, Transmission and Authority . Updated and revised third edition. Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, Massachusetts 2007, ISBN 978-1-56563-925-6 , pp. 38 .
  4. ^ Peter Haining, "Introduction" in Arthur Conan Doyle: The Final Adventures of Sherlock Holmes . Barnes & Noble Books, New York 1993, ISBN 1-56619-198-X .
  5. ↑ a b c d e The legendary Star Wars Expanded Universe turns a new page. In: StarWars.com. April 25, 2014, accessed January 20, 2018 .
  6. ↑ Chris Baker: Meet Leland Chee, the Star Wars Franchise Continuity Cop. In: Wired . August 18, 2008, accessed January 20, 2018 .
  7. ↑ Heather Urbanski: The Science Fiction Reboot: Canon, Innovation and Fandom in Refashioned Franchises . McFarland, Jefferson, NC 2013, ISBN 978-0-7864-6509-5 ( online ). online ( Memento from April 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  8. ↑ Harald Peters: The eleventh “Star Trek” film is completely illogical. May 6, 2009, accessed April 28, 2014 .
  9. ↑ a b FAQ: Article . In: startrek.com . CBS Studios. July 10, 2003. Retrieved April 29, 2010.
  10. ↑ Aaron Wolf: Officially: The old EU ends and still lives on. In: starwars-union.de. April 25, 2014, accessed July 5, 2014 .
  11. ↑ Mykew Gregorovitch in English Harry Potter Wiki, Gregorowitsch Harry Potter Xperts
  12. ↑ Doctor Who Magazine # 388
  13. ^ Doctor Who Magazine # 356
  14. ^ RT Davies: The Writer's Tales
  15. ^ Parrish: Inventing a Universe: Reading and writing Internet fan fiction. P. 33: “'fanon.' Within an individual fandom, certain plotlines may be reinvented so many times and by so many people — or alternately may be written so persuasively by a few writers — that they take on the status of fan-produced canon. ”
  16. ↑ The first known use of the word 'fanon' comes from Emily Salzfass in a post about Star Trek in alt.startrek.creative.erotica.moderated on April 1, 1998.