CANON vs. FANON -- Reality vs. Imagination
People who aren't really part of any so-called obsessive fandoms may not be aware of this, but there are really quite a few large-ish battle being waged bởi sometimes even fanatic people, mostly on this one subject: canon. Is it equivalent to the Holy Bible hoặc not? Is the word of the tác giả really and truly what goes? But wait, maybe I should back up a little.
To put it simply, canon includes everything about a book series etc. that has been verified bởi the author/other creator. It can include anything from birthdays and deathdays to who married who, and indeed it's often the latter, usually referred to as "shipping", that lights the biggest fires. Everyone has their own personal favourite, and if JK Rowling never intended for Harry to be gay and fall in tình yêu with Draco Malfoy, so what? What does it matter that JRR Tolkien probably never have envisioned Legolas and Gimli embarking on a wild, inter-species romance? This, my friends, is what we call fanon. Anything and everything that isn't officially verified but is still recognised within fandoms as something some people "ship", think, hoặc otherwise believe.
But why should we be interested in the differences of canon and fanon?
Well, the reason is simple, really: I want to investigate whether people prefer canon hoặc fanon. This goal would be easiest to accomplish using a survey study. The most practical solution would probably be to thiết kế a series of các câu hỏi and then start spreading them on the internet along with an email address, mainly in places that members of various fandoms frequent, such as Facebook người hâm mộ pages and other various người hâm mộ sites and forums. It would be important to remember to spread the survey amongst multiple fandoms, unless the goal were to find out the percentage of canon supporters in a specific fandom -- which, in this case, it isn't.
Using this method, one wouldn't really need other materials than the các câu hỏi themselves and a working email address for các câu trả lời to be sent to. Of course, having some kind of system to record các câu trả lời and display them clearly at any part of the process would also be useful -- bạn could, for example, make a bàn with the number of the câu hỏi in the vertical row and a slot for each of the các câu trả lời in the horizontal row, if the các câu hỏi were multiple choice. This way bạn could easily keep track of how many people have picked which answer.
Some example các câu hỏi that could be asked:
- On a whole, do bạn prefer canon hoặc fanon?
- When considering ships/pairings only, canon hoặc fanon?
- Do bạn consider Wikias (fan-made bài viết databases, based on the Wikipedia format) strict canon?
Also, it may be interesting to ask some demographical các câu hỏi like age, gender and country to see whether stereotypes such as "young people believe everything and therefore support canon" hoặc "Indian people tình yêu happy endings" are true, even in the slightest.
My hypothesis is that if a "I support both" option is given, the vast majority will pick that. Speaking from personal experience as a member of a so-called obssessive fandom, it's near impossible to pick just one, because so many people ship so many pairings etc. that bạn can't ask them to pick only half of them. If, however, bạn were to be so cruel, I estimate that well over half would side with fanon, since the support of gay pairings and other unofficial things has skyrocketed in the past few years.
and that, my friends, is 600 words of pure bullshit, also known as the Psych research plan I'm turning in on Friday unless I can think of a better reseach câu hỏi and type it all out before then :p
People who aren't really part of any so-called obsessive fandoms may not be aware of this, but there are really quite a few large-ish battle being waged bởi sometimes even fanatic people, mostly on this one subject: canon. Is it equivalent to the Holy Bible hoặc not? Is the word of the tác giả really and truly what goes? But wait, maybe I should back up a little.
To put it simply, canon includes everything about a book series etc. that has been verified bởi the author/other creator. It can include anything from birthdays and deathdays to who married who, and indeed it's often the latter, usually referred to as "shipping", that lights the biggest fires. Everyone has their own personal favourite, and if JK Rowling never intended for Harry to be gay and fall in tình yêu with Draco Malfoy, so what? What does it matter that JRR Tolkien probably never have envisioned Legolas and Gimli embarking on a wild, inter-species romance? This, my friends, is what we call fanon. Anything and everything that isn't officially verified but is still recognised within fandoms as something some people "ship", think, hoặc otherwise believe.
But why should we be interested in the differences of canon and fanon?
Well, the reason is simple, really: I want to investigate whether people prefer canon hoặc fanon. This goal would be easiest to accomplish using a survey study. The most practical solution would probably be to thiết kế a series of các câu hỏi and then start spreading them on the internet along with an email address, mainly in places that members of various fandoms frequent, such as Facebook người hâm mộ pages and other various người hâm mộ sites and forums. It would be important to remember to spread the survey amongst multiple fandoms, unless the goal were to find out the percentage of canon supporters in a specific fandom -- which, in this case, it isn't.
Using this method, one wouldn't really need other materials than the các câu hỏi themselves and a working email address for các câu trả lời to be sent to. Of course, having some kind of system to record các câu trả lời and display them clearly at any part of the process would also be useful -- bạn could, for example, make a bàn with the number of the câu hỏi in the vertical row and a slot for each of the các câu trả lời in the horizontal row, if the các câu hỏi were multiple choice. This way bạn could easily keep track of how many people have picked which answer.
Some example các câu hỏi that could be asked:
- On a whole, do bạn prefer canon hoặc fanon?
- When considering ships/pairings only, canon hoặc fanon?
- Do bạn consider Wikias (fan-made bài viết databases, based on the Wikipedia format) strict canon?
Also, it may be interesting to ask some demographical các câu hỏi like age, gender and country to see whether stereotypes such as "young people believe everything and therefore support canon" hoặc "Indian people tình yêu happy endings" are true, even in the slightest.
My hypothesis is that if a "I support both" option is given, the vast majority will pick that. Speaking from personal experience as a member of a so-called obssessive fandom, it's near impossible to pick just one, because so many people ship so many pairings etc. that bạn can't ask them to pick only half of them. If, however, bạn were to be so cruel, I estimate that well over half would side with fanon, since the support of gay pairings and other unofficial things has skyrocketed in the past few years.
and that, my friends, is 600 words of pure bullshit, also known as the Psych research plan I'm turning in on Friday unless I can think of a better reseach câu hỏi and type it all out before then :p
The whole conversationd wouldn't fit on one screenshot so here it is;
Stranger: asl
Stranger: ?
You: Oh! There bạn are! I've been looking for bạn forever!
Stranger: oh really?
You: I'll never say goodbye to you!
You: I'm crazy about you!
You: I tình yêu you!
Stranger: is that good hoặc bad?
Stranger: well are bạn a guy hoặc a girl?
You: Kurt, don't bạn tình yêu me?
Stranger: nope guess not
You: But Kurt it's me Blaine!
Stranger: that sucks dont it
You: :'(
Stranger: stop your bitchin
You: Kurt. It's me, Blaine! Your boyfriend.
Stranger: ha fuckin faggot
Stranger: i hate fags
Stranger: they are as bad as niggers and soicks
Stranger: spicks
You: I'M IN A RAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGEEEEEEEEEEEE. THIS IS THE MADDEST I'VE EVER BEEN!
Stranger: asl
Stranger: ?
You: Oh! There bạn are! I've been looking for bạn forever!
Stranger: oh really?
You: I'll never say goodbye to you!
You: I'm crazy about you!
You: I tình yêu you!
Stranger: is that good hoặc bad?
Stranger: well are bạn a guy hoặc a girl?
You: Kurt, don't bạn tình yêu me?
Stranger: nope guess not
You: But Kurt it's me Blaine!
Stranger: that sucks dont it
You: :'(
Stranger: stop your bitchin
You: Kurt. It's me, Blaine! Your boyfriend.
Stranger: ha fuckin faggot
Stranger: i hate fags
Stranger: they are as bad as niggers and soicks
Stranger: spicks
You: I'M IN A RAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGEEEEEEEEEEEE. THIS IS THE MADDEST I'VE EVER BEEN!