Miriu Ariana-Kimberly

3rd year, EN-NO

Canon and its changes

In the past few centuries literature changed dramatically, from the informal narration, a
variety of descriptions, to novels becoming more focused on the first person and on characters.
When we talk about canon, we talk about specific characteristics that include a novel, or any
other piece of literature, in a specific period. Considering the way the world around us changes
every day, it is perfectly normal for all the literature to change as well during a period of time
and depending a lot on the preferences of the readers. Over the time, literature became
influenced by historical events, politics, technology, and so the message that novels transmitted,
their roles, changed along with the world around them.
When the novel became popular, around 16th-17th century, the form was more formal than
the one nowadays. The main focus was put on the description, rather than on characters. It is
noticeable that the narrator did not include himself or herself in the story, everything is viewed
from the perspective of the third person. The texts back then only tell us what happens in an
objective way, the reader is not included in the story, he or she cannot really imagine why the
characters do this or that, they are just given a story, an action, a time and a space, and the reader
cannot go beyond what he is told. This way of narrating goes on for almost a century and a half
or so, then slowly starting to focus a bit more on the characters, but still, there is no act of
communication between the narrator and the reader.

Even though the third person is still predominant, around the year 1900, it becomes
noticeable that the narrator starts to include himself in the story, the first person, singular and
plural, appears, though not that frequent. The narration now is more informal, unlike the previous
text, and descriptions are not that predominant anymore. The authors are trying to center more on
the characters.
After a really short period of time we can observe that the novels changed quite much:
the second person is the predominant one, the style is informal, descriptions are barely present.
The narrator now tries to have a conversation, or rather a monologue, with the reader and the
narration becomes more realistic, the accent falls on man in general and on life. With the rise of
technology, the subjects became more different, the authors started writing about the future, the
hectic lives of people. The opinion of the reader is more important now, considering the fact that
the narrator has a conversation with him or she, the reader starts to feel obliged to express his or
her point of view.
The first person is slowly introduced in literature, with the late 1990s we can notice how
the narrator wants to communicate, he does not have only a simple monologue, he wants to have
a proper dialogue with the reader. We begin to feel more and more included in the novel, we get
an honest view of the world, and we can agree or disagree with it. But with the end of the 1990s
the first person becomes more predominant in novels. If in the past we get even a hint of
formality, now it is almost gone. The narrator becomes the main protagonist of the story, we get
only a point of view, making the new novel a subjective one. The act of communication is
more visible now, like Bloom says the function of you is presumed to be symmetrical with that
of I, each pronoun necessarily implying the other, and each, on its own or in combination with
the other, implying a communicative act.

We can easily notice all the changes that took place in literature, to be more precise, in
novels. After wars, social conflicts, new technology being introduced, the subject of novels
changed, or it stayed the same, but the form, the way in which the author chose to express that
subject changed according to what the readers wanted. The novels became more
communicative, they do not just tell you a story, leaving you no choice in expressing your
point of view, they are making you part of the action now.