Kanonilisuse

Kanonilisuse, or canonicity, is the status of a text, work, or element being considered part of a defined canon by a community, institution, or scholarly tradition. Canonicity determines what is regarded as authoritative, foundational, or representative within a given domain. The concept is used across religious, literary, film, and media contexts, and its criteria vary by community.

In religion, canonicity denotes which scriptures are accepted as sacred and authoritative. Different traditions have different canons: for example, the Catholic and Orthodox Christian canons include certain books that are not part of the Protestant edition; the Hebrew Bible is a canonical corpus in Judaism; in Islam, the Quran is the central canonical text, with other writings treated differently. In secular genres, canonicity often applies to literature, film, or comic book franchises. Here, canon is what producers, publishers, or the majority of the community treat as officially part of the franchise’s story world. Terms like canonical, non-canonical, or “fanon” are used to describe what is considered part of the official storyline versus fan-created material. The Star Wars example illustrates this distinction, where Disney-era materials are designated canon, while earlier stories were grouped as Legends.

Canon status is not fixed: it can evolve through editorial decisions, new published works, retcons, or shifts in community consensus. Debates about kanonilisuse can reflect tensions between authorial intent, institutional authority, and fan interpretation. Overall, canonicity is a normative concept, guiding how audiences judge the authority, coherence, and continuity of a body of works.