branchandroot: oak against sky (Default)
Branch ([personal profile] branchandroot) wrote2004-07-21 06:31 pm
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the meaning of canon

A post by Cathexys came together with the ongoing linguistic laments in one of my own recent posts, and made me think about a phenomenon I've noticed recently.

The common definition of "canon", among anime fans, seems to be changing, particularly as relates to the existence and/or possibility of specific romantic pairings.

At least once a week over the past month or two, while browsing through the ljs of fellow anime fen, I've seen people referring to Pairing X as canon when what they seem to mean is that the source text contains moments or situations or dialogue between the two characters that it is possible to interpret in a romantic fashion.

They do not seem to mean that the source text actually says Y and Z are dating/boyfriends/screwing each other silly. Which is what I have, to date, taken as the meaning of "canon".

This seems related to the jargon use of the word "proof" (also, occasionally, "evidence"). Among good yaoi fangirls the statement that a scene contains proof of a given pairing is used, usually tongue in cheek, to mean that the action can, with great effort and willing suspension of disbelief, be imagined to contain romantic tension. As in "There, see! Y punched out Z, it's proof! They must be in love!" In the less good-natured debates, this can devolve into the sort of double standard that insists one's own "proof" is actual evidence while the other side's "proof" is wishful thinking. The need for legitimazation appears to trump manners, dictionaries and common sense, all three.

The new use of "canon", regrettably, seems headed in the same direction. Pairing X is canon, but Pairing Q is not. "Canon", in both cases, meaning something closer to "possible interpretation of subtext" than "textual statement". At the same time, the person using "canon" in this special jargon sense, is usually taking full advantage of the common use implication of the word. That is, she is treating the favored pairing as established and unquestionable, dennotative rather than connotative.

The whole progression reminds me of the rightening of American liberal parties, where Republican used to mean "liberal" while Democrat meant "anarchist", and then Republican meant conservative, and now it's coming up on Democrat meanting conservative, and we keep needing new names for the far left parties. I do wonder what word fandom will come up with next to indicate "textual statement".

[identity profile] solitude1056.livejournal.com 2004-07-21 11:44 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, I think discussions of canon beg the question: "canon what" - as in, let's see. It's canon that Hakkai and Gojyo are friends, even damn good friends that put up with each other's crap. And it's canon that Heero and Relena share mutual respect and admiration, while discounting their own abilities. So in those instances, one could say, "these relationships are canon." Because, hello, friendship is a relationship. I think it's a variety of words that are getting mangled - 'relationship' meaning only sexual or pre-sexual; 'canon' moving from 'what happened in the original story' to being used mostly as an adjective for the word 'relationship' or the dreaded 'pairing'.

And btw, you completely forgot about the other horrendous fangirl cry, the one that makes me really cringe:

"BUT IT'S CANNON!"

Right. And I'm going to SHOOT you with it.

*kaBAM*

Sheesh.

help! i want a glossary!

[identity profile] kenllama.livejournal.com 2004-07-22 11:00 am (UTC)(link)
so, i've been following this thread more out of interest in "what's canon" than particular interest in the particularities of fansmut, but here I get lost. What are Gen and UST? Unmitigated Sexual Tension? Universally Sensitive Tortoises. I'm curious how you subvert expectations, but I lack the lingo to understand.

Is there a good glossary of all these terms (OTP,PWP,UST,etc?)

Re: help! i want a glossary!

[identity profile] kenllama.livejournal.com 2004-07-22 01:16 pm (UTC)(link)
::*laughs* *hugs her llama*::

*hugs back*

you sound like you're in a cheerful mood today. just got back from lunch with Ms L (who got the job). we should be home soonish. I think I need to sic the Other^4 Emily on a job when she takes over at the ref desk in a few minutes and then should be free to vacate the premises.

The OTP & PWP came from other recent posts in others folks' journals on which I've had to get clarification. I had suggest Pandas Wearing Pajamas for PWP and Ang though perhaps she'd have to write a fic involving such stuff. I suppose Ranma would lend itself...