Canon

Canon
Name	Canon
Founded	1937
Headquarters	Tokyo
Founders	Goro Yoshida, Takeo Maeda, Saburo Uchida
Industry	Imaging industry, Consumer electronics, Optical instruments
Products	Cameras, Copiers, Printers, Lenses
Subsidiaries	Canon USA, Canon Europe

Canon

Canon denotes a multifaceted set of meanings across religion, literature, law, and media, as well as being the name of a major Japanese corporation in the imaging industry. In cultural contexts, canon identifies bodies of authoritative works or texts recognized by institutions such as the Bible councils, the Library of Alexandria traditions, and modern editorial canons like the Oxford University Press or the Modern Library. In popular culture, canon shapes debates among creators, fans, critics, and legal bodies including the United States Copyright Office and national courts.

Definition and Etymology

The term descends from the Late Latin canōn and Ancient Greek κανών, historically used in Christianity councils such as the Council of Nicaea and Council of Trent to signify lists or rules; later adoption by the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, and Anglican Communion standardized usage. Secular literary critics in Renaissance and Enlightenment periods linked canon to collections curated by entities like the French Academy and the British Museum. In modern parlance, jurists in contexts such as the International Court of Justice and scholars at Harvard University employ the lexeme to denote authoritative corpora, while corporate branding by a Tokyo company adopted the term for commercial identity in 1937.

Religious and Liturgical Canon

Religious canons refer to texts deemed authoritative by confessional bodies: the Hebrew Bible tradition shaped by the Sanhedrin and the Masoretes; the New Testament canon refined through synods like Synod of Hippo and endorsements by the Church Fathers including Augustine of Hippo and Jerome. Variants exist across denominations: the Protestant Reformation produced differing collections endorsed by Martin Luther and John Calvin; the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church preserves the Book of Enoch in its canon; the Council of Trent reaffirmed the Deuterocanonical books for Roman Catholic Church. Liturgical canons govern rites in institutions such as the Eastern Orthodox Church's Divine Liturgy and the Anglican Communion's Book of Common Prayer.

Literary and Fictional Canon

Literary canon designates works elevated by gatekeepers such as the Princeton University Press, Cambridge University Press, and institutions like the Library of Congress and the British Library. Canon formation often involves figures including Samuel Johnson, Harold Bloom, and editors at the Modern Library. Debates over inclusions—e.g., William Shakespeare's attribution controversies, contested texts in the Walt Whitman corpus, or rediscoveries at the Nag Hammadi Library—shape curricula at Oxford University, Columbia University, and Yale University. In fiction, canonical status can depend on authorial intent as in works by J. R. R. Tolkien, Arthur Conan Doyle, or Agatha Christie and on publisher decisions by houses like Penguin Books and Random House.

Media Franchise and Fan Canon

In franchises, canon denotes continuity recognized by rights holders and creators such as Lucasfilm for Star Wars, The Walt Disney Company for Marvel Comics and Star Wars, and Warner Bros. for the Harry Potter film adaptations managed with J. K. Rowling's input. Official canon decisions by studios, showrunners like Joss Whedon or Vince Gilligan, and licensors (e.g., BBC Studios for Doctor Who) influence transmedia narratives spanning comic books, video games, and television. Fan communities from forums on platforms like Reddit to conventions such as San Diego Comic-Con negotiate fanon versus official canon, with legal oversight sometimes invoked by entities like the United States District Court in disputes over derivative works.

Canon in Law and Ecclesiastical Use

Canon in legal contexts includes canon law systems codified by bodies such as the Holy See's Codex Iuris Canonici and the Canons of the Church of England; these coexist with civil codes administered by institutions like the Supreme Court of the United States and national parliaments. Ecclesiastical canons regulate clerical discipline, sacraments, and governance in jurisdictions like the Patriarchate of Constantinople and the Patriarchate of Moscow. Canon law scholars at universities such as Pontifical Gregorian University, University of Notre Dame, and Loyola University Chicago produce commentary used in tribunals and synods; contested interfaces with secular law emerge in cases involving marriage annulments, property, and clerical immunity adjudicated by civil courts.

Debates and Criteria for Canonicity

Debates over canonicity involve criteria advanced by critics and institutions: textual authenticity and provenance adjudicated via manuscript traditions like those preserved at Vatican Library, Bodleian Library, and Bibliothèque nationale de France; authorial intent as defended by scholars of Emily Dickinson or Mark Twain; historical influence assessed in studies at Princeton University and Yale University; and community reception exemplified by audiences at Metropolitan Opera and Glastonbury Festival. Contemporary controversies engage copyright law overseen by agencies such as the European Union Intellectual Property Office and the United States Copyright Office, cultural restitution claims involving the Elgin Marbles and looted artifacts, and revisionist canons propelled by movements led by scholars from Columbia University, University of California, Berkeley, and Goldsmiths, University of London.

Category:Literary terminology