Canon (Narrative)

The word “canon” itself comes from the biblical canon , when part of the books was declared Holy Scripture, and some - apocrypha ^[3] . The term was first applied to literature in relation to Sherlock Holmes . Ronald Knox in 1911 called the "canon" of the book Conan Doyle, in order to distinguish it from the secondary works of other authors ^{[4] [5]} . Subsequently, the concept of “canon” was adopted by other media franchises : “ Star Trek ”, “ Star Wars ”, Fallout and others. In them, different works told different things, completely or partially contradictory to each other, and something had to be declared true, and something - not ^[5] .

Since different works are created by different people at different times, contradictions inevitably accumulate in them. They are resolved by depriving some works of the status of “canonical” (“ Star Trek ”), installing different levels of canonicity to different works (“ Star Wars ”). Different works may be considered parallel universes (" Star Cruiser" Galaxy " "), and may not deal with these issues in general. Some events in general are “ Easter eggs ” and initially do not claim to be canonical.

Canonical ending

In computer games, there is often a player's choice and several endings, depending on what he chooses. One of the endings (usually the “best”) is declared canonical, and the game- sekvela refer to just such a variant of the course of events.

Interesting decision series Fallout . No player choice - unless, of course, there are other ways to pass the game - is not considered canonical, unless someone else refers to him with the authority of the canon.

Restart

In any case, with the accumulation of new and new sequels, the canon is expanding, and work with it is becoming more and more complicated. In addition to releasing secondary works from canon, restarting can help - creating a new canon from scratch. Restarting and processing must be done carefully - it depends on the acceptance or rejection of the film by existing fans ^[6] .

Star Trek

The Star Trek canon includes “all events of serials and films” (namely Star Trek , Star Trek: The Next Generation , Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , Star Trek: Voyager , Star Trek: Enterprise , and all films ) ^{[7 ]} . Accordingly, everything else is uncanonical: related novels, comics, games and cartoons . However, the events of novels and cartoons can eventually penetrate into the series, because, as the site says, “canon is not something that is carved in stone” ^[7] . One of the non-canonical elements that later entered the canon is the second name Tiberius Kirk ( James Tiberius Kirk ), which appeared in the animated series, and was later mentioned in the movie Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country .

Star Wars

There were several levels of canonicity in Star Wars. The highest level - six films and personal statements of Lucas . Other materials have lower levels ^[5] . This complex system is supported by Liland Chi , an employee of Lucasfilm ^[5] .

In 2014, Chi reduced the number of levels to two - “canon” and “legends”.

Doctor Who

The creators of Doctor Who avoided questions of canonicity. Russell T. Davis , current (2013) producer, explained this by saying that he simply did not think about this issue ^{[8] [9] [10]} .

Fallout

Five games are considered canonical (at the end of 2015): Fallout , Fallout 2 , Fallout 3 , Fallout: New Vegas , Fallout 4 with all addons and with that part of the accompanying documentation that does not contradict the games. Both comics are canonical.

Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel (with the exception of the general chain of events referenced by Fallout 3 ), Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel (a little-known console game), Fallout Shelter (smartphone mini-game), special Fallout 1, 2 and New Vegas meetings are not canonical , game errors , unplayed games. Any choice of a player - if, of course, there are other ways to get through the game - is also non-canonical, until a newer game doesn’t refer to one or another scenario: for example, it is generally accepted that the Vault Dweller picked up Psina and hired Jan, and both died (this described in the documentation for Fallout 2 ), but there is no such information about the other Fallout partners.

In case of contradictions Black Isle / Bethesda "wins" the second, the current owner . However, the pre-war screw is not canonical in one of the Fallout 4 shelters: it is believed that this drug was invented by Mayron ( Fallout 2 ).

Canon illustrator, canonical translator

The work of an illustrator or translator can be so successful that his achievements — the appearance of the characters, the translation of names, etc. — become a canon. So, thanks to the artist Sydney Paget and his followers, the hat with two peaks became the signature headdress of Sherlock Holmes , although in the book something like this is once mentioned where it is supposed to be - somewhere outside the city. What Holmes wore in the city - the books do not mention; most likely bowler.

Fanon

Fanfics almost never declare canonical. But some of these thoughts may become famous among fans. These thoughts are called a fan (fan + canon) ^{[11] [12]} .

Fanons are often in large media fragments, where there are many canonical and non-canonical works, as in the Star Trek universe.

Sometimes, for example, among the fans of Brokeback Mountain , fan works are declared canonical, if the work remains true to the original story of Annie Prout and the 2005 film. These works can describe events before, during, or after the events of the story and film.

Quinon

In case the canonical work was filmed, the new interpretation is called kinon (from. "Cinema" and "canon") and may differ in details. Often the differences relate to the appearance of the characters. For example, in the first volume of the Harry Potter novels, the age of teacher Severus Snape is 31 years old, while in the film as the actor Alan Rickman, who played it, was 55 years old at the time.

Headcanon

Headcanon, headcanon (from the English headcanon, “canon in the head”) - canon and additions to it (from other fan fiction, discussions on Internet forums, etc.), which the author considers the basis of his work. If the fanon is the generally accepted or most frequently used interpretation of events, then the headcanon can be an arbitrary set of postulates chosen by the author.

For example, the work “Fallout: Equestria” is based on the franchise “ My Little Pony ” and computer games “ Fallout ”, while becoming the source of derivative works. The most famous of them: "Project Horizons", "Pink Eyes", "Heroes" and "Guise of Chaos". The authors of subsequent fan fiction of this universe automatically recognize the canon of “Fallout: Equestria”, but can choose only part of the derivative works as headcanon — for example, Fallout: Equestria and Project Horizons — by ignoring other stories and not coordinating with them the plot.

The ironic version of the translation of the term “little gun” is common on the Internet, since in English the words “canon” (canon) and “cannon” (cannon) have a similar spelling.

• Alternative Universe (fan fiction)
• Expanded universe
• Fictional universe
• Parallel worlds in fiction

Sources

• Rebecca Black, Digital Design: English Language Learners and Reader Reviews in the New Literacies Sampler , p. 126
• Parrish, Juli J. Inventing a Universe: Reading and writing Internet fan fiction (Neopr.) (2007).
• Urbanski, Heather (2013). Canon, Innovation and Fandom in Refashioned Franchises. Jefferson, NC: McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-6509-5 .