The Common Tongue

[wombat_socho]

God knows I'm not trying to dredge up the dead and extremely stinky past here, but I was mulling over the concept of the canon as it applies to contemporary SF&F fandom, partially as a result of what windelina had to say in this post (sorry, it's f-locked) about her reaction to some younger fans who didn't quite get the mockup of HAL9000 that sat outside Main Programming this year at Convergence. It occurred to me that every time we get a big influx of fans, part of what leads the mainstream -however you define it at the time- to exclude the neos is that they just don't speak the language. There are just too many referents to films and TV shows they haven't seen, books and stories they haven't read, and all that sort of thing.

Nowadays, of course, I suppose it's not such a big deal, because there are sufficient ghettos within fandom that you don't really have to deal with anyone outside your circle of Trek fans, Harry Potter fans, or whatever your particular fandom might be. On the other hand, when you venture out to a convention, especially a ginormous Gathering of the Tribes such as Convergence, squatting in your little familiar circle is really a waste of time and money. So as we approach the end of the seventh decade of SF conventions, what is the canon? What do fans need to have experienced to interact intelligently with most of the other fans at Convergence? Is there a canon any more, or has the very notion of a central body of knowledge in fandom become obsolete? If there is a canon, what do you think belongs in it?

Comments

[michaellee.livejournal.com]

My thought is that the sf fan's canon is something additional and different than what should be expected out of a general educated person. So I'm not sure if bits of the Bible, or Shakespeare -- both of which I think are reasonable for people to hear references to at an SF convention -- are something I'd especially flag.

And we all know that The West Wing is a liberal fantasy... so of course it counts. Not a show I watch though, and I really wouldn't count it on the true essentials -- though it might be valuable in some circles, and there was a time where it was a reasonable show to have a panel on. I'd say something like Veronica Mars occupies that sort of slot today. (I don't watch either show, btw.)

It's an interesting point -- I think some of it matters what the shorthand is. I wouldn't be surprised if some anime-themed costumes that suffer in the CONvergence masquerade because they reference something that goes over a judges head -- I know that I miss a few. Or perhaps a video game reference that I miss.

It's especially difficult when I think one of the joys of fandom is the shared inside joke.

[wombat-socho.livejournal.com]

It's an interesting point -- I think some of it matters what the shorthand is. I wouldn't be surprised if some anime-themed costumes that suffer in the CONvergence masquerade because they reference something that goes over a judges head -- I know that I miss a few. Or perhaps a video game reference that I miss.

YES. The context is very important! Which fans are we talking about? Which local favorites generate the buzz and get read/watched more often than the Hugo winners?

It's especially difficult when I think one of the joys of fandom is the shared inside joke.

Agreed. While I appreciated the key to the Legion of Super-Connies last year, I felt bad for Chris that he had to explain the joke...and also for myself because I really didn't get the vast majority of the references.