Rule #29: The Canon and The Classic
January 13, 2017 How To Read Lit 1 comment cclark17
Classic – Reserved for things to die for. Typically overused and should be kept for things that truly shine.
The term “Classic” is overused and defining it is difficult. Frank Kermoode defines a Classic as “…what we choose to die for.” Classics cross time and borders whereas the majority of books don’t outlast their period of writing or become translated into different languages. Classics are both civilized and civilizing. Even in dead languages, such as Latin for the Aeneid, they live and tell. Classics accommodate themselves in history, finding homes to outlast the periods of time and is tolerant of every explanation of itself for that time.
Classic Movies: Harry Potter series, Star Wars series, Charlie Brown’s Christmas
Canon – Like history in that it already happened and that we should learn from it. Worth studying in schools and universities.
The list of Canon books have become and extremely exclusive club in which some some books may be in one week, and not the next as they are a highly contested matter. Leading to “Canon Wars” and and literary debates, canon books continue to give advice on how to write years later even after they were read through. Only after printing was invented did canons really begin to combat each other and cause conflict. The problem with so many canons is that they continue the collection of literary knowledge, resulting in scholars having to read multiple more books than their predecessors to attain the most knowledge. Schools require an extremely minute amount of reading of such canons having a decreased literary learning.
Canon Movies: The Godfather, Schindler’s List, Jaws, Titanic
One movie may be considered a Classic and years later could be titled as a Canon. For instance, Titanic (1997), was a huge success profiting over ten times the budget and winning 121 awards. Achieving this level of success placed the movie into the hearts and minds of viewers whilst becoming a Classic in the process. Years later, Titanic is remembered as a heartfelt moment in film and actual history. This movie started as a highly triumphant Classic and due to such high acknowledgment, is now considered as a Canon and should be reviewed and rewatched for years to come.
1 Comment
I think your post is pretty good, I however find that there really was not an extremely good “equation for what is or is not a cannon/classic extremely specific. I think however this due do the nature of the subject. This topic is rather subjective. I believe that the James Bond film SkyFall (2012) will eventually be considered a classic and in my opinion is one of the best James bond films of all times. It was also in my opinion the best James bond film by Danial Craig. I think it will be remembered as a classic for its great acting, interesting plot where we learn about Bond’s family life. It’s sound track Skyfall by Adele also became a hit song as well. This is my reasoning for giving it classic status.