The Canon.

***Important Notice, we are not referring to cannons, the weapon:

We are referring to the Canon (one 'n'): the literary model. So think:

 



 

Now you're on the right track.

 

 

The Literary Canon, described very basically, is a list of books that have been decided on as the books that everyone should read/study/know about. The word 'Canon' comes from the Greek 'Kanon', meaning 'a yard stick' or 'a measuring rod'. So the Literary Canon is a model of examples that can be used to measure other books by in terms of greatness.

 

 

A good quote to use if you are writing about the Literary Canon in an essay.

 

 

"The sense of the word [canon] important to literary critics first appeared in the fourth century A.D., when 'canon' was used to signify a list of texts or authors, specifically the books of the Bible and of the early theologians of Christianity. In this context 'canon' suggested to its users a principle of selection by which some authors or texts were deemed worthier of preservation than others."

 

(Jon Guillory, 'Canon', in Critical Terms for Literary Study, ed. Frank Lentricchia and Thomas McLaughlin, 2nd ed., University of Chicago Press, 1995)

 

So what texts make up the Literary Canon?

 

Oh, there's a butt-load.  Popular texts in the Canon include:

 

• Pride and Prejudice- Jane Austen
• The Great Gatsby- F. Scott Fitzgerald
• Wuthering Heights- Emily Bronte
• Romeo and Juliet- Shakespeare
• The Catcher in the Rye- J. D. Salinger
• Hamlet- Shakespeare
• Dracula- Bram Stoker
• The Canterbury Tales- Geoffrey Chaucer 
• A Tale of Two Cities- Charles Dickens
• To Kill a Mockingbird- Harper Lee
• Animal Farm- George Orwell

 

And loads more. For a longer, fuller list please visit https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/literary-canon

 

Do these texts sound familiar? They should. All institutions of education, such as secondary schools, choose texts from the canon to study. This is because texts that make the Literary Canon are regarded as the best examples of literature in history. All of the texts I study on my course are part of the Literary Canon.

 

If you hated learning about these texts in school, here's who to blame:

 

Old white men. Yep. They did it again.

 

***Please remember that everything that I put on here has been taught to me by my trained lecturers. Having said that, I am in no way claiming to have all the answers. Please do further research and find accurate sources to reference. Consider me a simple study guide; a starting point.

 

As far as I have been taught, the Literary Canon was created in the Victorian era, when Britain was trying to show literature as its crowning glory. A list was to be produced of the best examples of literature throughout history, to show the rest of the world what we could do.

 

However, it is necessary to remember at this point: who was in charge in the Victorian era? Who would have been coming up with this list?

 

Old. British. White. Men.

 

Which, of course, is not a problem until you realise that this means that most (not all, but most) of the Literary Canon is made up of texts written by old, British, white men. Yep, they're helping themselves. Who Knew.

 

In today's society, we can recognise the problematic issues that arise when discussing the Literary Canon, such as the fact that the texts are mostly written by white males. This obviously excludes women and black authors. This does not mean to say that their writing is not as good, it just shows how Victorian society (and most historical societies) benefitted white men and oppressed all others.

 

Another issue here is the fact that we all have different tastes and opinions. What makes 'Wuthering Heights' by Emily Bronte more important than 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' by Eric Carle? Who is to say that one carries more literary worth than the other? If you ask a room of students to write a list of books that they would choose to show an alien race, in order to represent themselves, they would most likely choose some books that are part of the Canon, but also many other non-canonical texts that they have enjoyed. That's what we did in my class.

 

These are quite deep and unanswerable questions. I think that when talking about the Literary Canon, it is important to keep in mind that a list had to be produced, and therefore a list was produced. This does not mean that these texts are the be-all and end-all of good literature. It's all done on someone's opinion, so take it with a pinch of salt, but as far as classic and famous texts go, the Literary Canon is a very good place to start.