What is a Canon?

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1

Introduction

RELOADED IN THIS CHAPTER

• What is the canon?

• What is literature?

• Quality control

• The classic

• Canon clues

• Summing up

• Words, words, words

• Read and view more

• Final words

What is the canon?

When you hear the word ‘canon’, you generally think of a large, heavy weapon on wheels that fires lead balls at some enemy army across a field. That, of course, would be a ‘cannon’ and not what we are talking about here. Although, in the study of English, the canon is indeed made up of what are considered the ‘big guns’ of literature and may even be thought of as a weapon against ignorance, we are not talking about destructive artillery.
What we are talking about is an arsenal of knowledge: knowledge of literature. The canon is a list of literary texts that are considered so important that everyone should read a selection of them during their lifetime. Having read them and appreciated their merits, we are considered ‘cultured, educated and well-read’. We are talking mostly about books written in English or works of literature that have been translated into English from foreign languages, such as French and Russian.
Of course, this idea of the canon as a list of the great works of English and foreign literature raises all sorts of questions:

• Why is ‘the canon’ so called?
• How long has the canon been around?
• What is literature?
• Why is it considered important to read literature?
• Which books and authors are on this list and which are not – and why?
• Has the list changed over time?
• Who decides what’s on the list and what isn’t?