Canon (fiction)

In fiction, canon is the material accepted as officially part of the story in an individual universe of that story. It is often contrasted with, or used as the basis for, works of fan fiction. The alternative terms mythology, timeline, universe and continuity are often used, with the first of these being used especially to refer to a richly detailed fictional canon requiring a large degree of suspension of disbelief (e.g. an entire imaginary world and history), while the latter two typically refer to a single arc where all events are directly connected chronologically. Other times, the word can mean "to be acknowledged by the creator(s)".

This article is about the concept of a canon that defines the world of a particular series or franchise. For influential works of fiction, see Western canon.
For other uses, see Canon.

The Royal Book of Oz, a canonical work in Oz (series) although written in 1921 after the death in 1919 of original series writer L. Frank Baum, by another writer Ruth Plumly Thompson authorized by original publisher Reilly & Lee[1]

Influential or widely accepted fan theories may be referred to as "fanon", a portmanteau of fan and canon. Alternatively, the term "headcanon" is used to describe a fan's own interpretation of a fictional universe.

Origin

The use of the word "canon" originated in reference to a set of texts derived from Biblical canon, the set of books regarded as scripture, as contrasted with non-canonical Apocrypha.[2] The term was first used by analogy in the context of fiction to refer to the Sherlock Holmes stories and novels, written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, as contrasted with numerous Holmes adventures added later by other writers. This usage was afterwards extended to the writings of various other authors.

Canonicity

When there are multiple "official" works or original media, the question of what is canonical can be unclear. This is resolved either by explicitly excluding certain media from the status of canon (as in the case of Star Trek and Star Wars), by assigning different levels of canonicity to different media (as was in the case of Star Wars before the franchise was purchased by Disney), by considering different but licensed media treatments official and equally canonical to the series timeline within their own continuities universe, but not across them, or not resolved at all. The use of canon is of particular importance with regard to reboots or re-imaginings of established franchises, such as the Star Trek remake (2009), because of the ways in which it influences the viewer experience.[3]

The official Star Trek website describes Star Trek canon as "the events that take place within the episodes and movies" referring to the live-action television series and films, with Star Trek: The Animated Series having long existed in a nebulous gray area of canonicity.[4] Events, characters and storylines from tie-in novels, comic books, and video games are explicitly excluded from the Star Trek canon, but the site notes that elements from these sources have been subsequently introduced into the television series, and says that "canon is not something set in stone."[4] Some non-canonical elements that later became canonical in the Star Trek universe are Uhura's first name Nyota, introduced in the novels and made canonical in the 2009 film Star Trek, and James T. Kirk's middle name Tiberius, introduced in the Star Trek animated series and made canonical in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.

The Star Wars canon exists on several levels. The highest level was the original Star Wars films, and statements by George Lucas; tie-in fiction from the Star Wars expanded universe had a different level of canonicity.[5] The complex system was maintained by Leland Chee, a Lucasfilm employee.[5] After Disney bought the franchise, all material published prior to April 25, 2014 that was not any of the Star Wars movies or the CGI cartoon The Clone Wars was declared in the "Legends" continuity, marking them as no longer official canon. However, as this is impossible to happen due to the definition/nature and purpose of canon (To be a permanent chronicling of history)that makes this non canon and keeps them as canon by possibility. All subsequent material exists on the same level of canon, with the Lucasfilm Story Group being established to ensure no contradictions among canon works.[6]

The makers of Doctor Who have generally avoided making pronouncements about canonicity, with Russell T Davies explaining that he does not think about the concept for the Doctor Who television series or its spin-offs.[7][8][9]

Additional works

In literature, the term "canon" is used to distinguish between the original works of a writer who created certain characters and/or settings, and the later works of other writers who took up the same characters or setting. For example, the canon of Sherlock Holmes consists of the 56 short stories and four novels written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and featuring the detective Sherlock Holmes.[10] The subsequent works by other authors who took up Sherlock Holmes are considered "non-canonical".

Other writers

Some works by the original writer such as The Field Bazaar but not the same publisher may be debated as forming part of canon.[11] This is because copyright used to be exercised by the publisher of the work of literature rather than the author.[12]

However, sometimes in literature, original writers have not approved works as canon, but original publishers or estates of original writers posthumously approve subsequent works as canon, such as The Royal Book of Oz (1921) (by original publisher),[13] Porto Bello Gold (1924) (by estate),[14] and Heidi Grows Up (1938) (by estate).[15]

Late 20th century

In film and television this is common that the original writer does not decide canon.[16] In literature, the estate of H. G. Wells authorised sequels by Stephen Baxter, The Massacre of Mankind (2017) and The Time Ships (1995).[17] Scarlett (Ripley novel) was a 1991 sequel to Gone with the Wind authorised by the estate.[18]

21st century

Sequels to the stories by P G Wodehouse about the butler Jeeves were sanctioned by Wodehouse's estate for Jeeves and the Wedding Bells (2013) by Sebastian Faulks and Jeeves and the King of Clubs (2018) by Ben Schott.[19]

Fanon

Fan fiction is almost never regarded as canonical. However, certain ideas may become influential or widely accepted within fan communities, who refer to such ideas as "fanon", a portmanteau of fan and canon.[5][20][21] Similarly, the jargon "headcanon" is used to describe a fan's personal interpretation of a fictional universe.[22]

See also

References
  1. ""The Wonderful Wizard of Oz": A children's classic lives on though many editions and sequels". sites.utexas.edu.
  2. McDonald 2007, p. 38.
  3. Urbanski 2013, p. 83.
  4. "FAQ: Article". startrek.com. CBS Studios. 10 July 2003. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
  5. Baker, Chris (18 August 2008). "Meet Leland Chee, the Star Wars Franchise Continuity Cop". Wired. Retrieved 30 April 2010.
  6. "The Legendary Star Wars Expanded Universe Turns a New Page". StarWars.com.
  7. Doctor Who Magazine #388
  8. Doctor Who Magazine #356
  9. Davies RT, "The Writer's Tales"
  10. Peter Haining, "Introduction" in Doyle, Arthur Conan (1993). The Final Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. New York: Barnes & Noble Books. ISBN 1-56619-198-X. Edited by Peter Haining.
  11. "Invisible Ink: No 197 - The other Sherlock Holmes writers". The Independent. 3 November 2013.
  12. "When Charles Dickens fell out with America". BBC News. 14 February 2012.
  13. Gardner, Martin (2 May 1971). "We're Off To See The Wizard (Published 1971)". The New York Times.
  14. "Porto Bello Gold". library.si.edu.
  15. options, Show more sharing; URLCopied!, Copy Link (4 February 2015). "Is Harper Lee's 'Go Set a Watchman' bound for the 'Interstellar' trap?". Los Angeles Times.
  16. Staiger, Janet (1985). "The Politics of Film Canons". Cinema Journal. 24 (3): 4–23. doi:10.2307/1225428. ISSN 0009-7101.
  17. "Tell Us 5 Things About Your Book: A Sequel to 'The War of the Worlds' (Published 2017)".
  18. "Tomorrow is another Gone With the Wind sequel". the Guardian. 3 November 2007.
  19. Grylls, David (24 October 2020). "Jeeves and the Leap of Faith by Ben Schott, review — a 'new' Wodehouse". The Times.
  20. Parrish 2007, 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.
  21. The first known use of the word fanon was by Emily Salzfass in a post about Star Trek at alt.startrek.creative.erotica.moderated on April 1, 1998.
  22. Romano, Aja (7 June 2016). "Canon, fanon, shipping and more: a glossary of the tricky terminology that makes up fandom". Vox. Vox media. Retrieved 5 June 2019.

Sources
  • The dictionary definition of canon at Wiktionary
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