Abstract
This essay examines the effect of the creation and
implementation of canonicity within the subreddit, r/lifeofnorman. The ideas of
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Bronwen Thomas aid in the discussion of limited
perspectives, canon, and its influence upon the disposition and inclination of
individual users, also it analyzes the extent to which expectations and
preconceived notions can alter one’s understanding of the definition of normalcy.
It explores the hypothetical and potential context of an evolving population of
individuals that exist within a transitional period of prospective intellectual
confinement through the incorporation of canonicity or the creation and preservation
of a fictional personality derived from the community’s understanding of the
self, normality, and social expectation.
Word Count: 113
Keywords: r/lifeofnorman, normalcy, normality, Chimamanda
Ngozi Adichie, Bronwen Thomas, canon, community, Reddit, subreddit.
Colton Mobly
Instructor Britton
Andrews
English 101
16 March 2015
The
Life of Norman and Canonicity
Norman is a fictional, middle aged, divorced man who was
given life within the subreddit r/lifeofnorman. Norman began as a separate
Reddit post containing a humorous picture of another middle aged, balding man
and from this grew a subreddit based around the fictional life of this fellow. All
the events that take place within this fictitious world emerge from the minds
of a diverse group of people all publishing short anecdotes of his daily
routine. The content of such posts commonly vary and may portray stale humor,
as well as the mundane, trivial, and fairly common occurrences which often can
be found within our own lives. Norman’s life is, essentially, a
unique concept which aims to represent an interesting perspective on normalcy.
With each new story and each addition to this world, Norman becomes much more
relatable, believable, and beloved by all readers and writers. Consequently, as
this subreddit gains prominence on Reddit, an increasing number of users justly
wish to contribute their personal ideas and anecdotes. As a result, fewer and
fewer stories gain proper recognition and may potentially be forgotten by the
rest of the community.
Norman is an individual who was constructed from the
minds and experiences of those who wish to write about him, and through
internet based collaboration, Norman is able to evolve with the trends of
Reddit and all of the elements of society in general. Each variable of his existence, (such as his
cat, who is also named Norman), or the specific context of his surroundings,
were all materialized from the beginning of this subreddit. Thus, a large
number of events, actions, and specific details have been implemented into his
existence. Theoretically, every anecdote and each occurrence within Norman’s
life all hold equivalent legitimacy, regardless of their ultimate popularity.
However, the community behind r/lifeofnorman have decided to compile the
stories which have gained popular, positive acclaim, into a book entitled Book of Norman. What I fear as both an
observer and recent user is that in the development of a “book” the other users
subscribed to this forum may accept Book of
Norman as the canon for r/lifeofnorman, and effectively limit the
definition of normality. As a result, the older or less popular posts will be
excluded from Norman’s reality, and be defined as dissimilar to the stories in
the book.
In an essay written
by the author Bronwen Thomas called “Canons and Fanons: Literary Fanfiction
Online” she discusses the use and implementation of canon and what role it
plays in online fanfiction. As well, Thomas talks about canonicity and its
implications it has on the development of democratic fanfiction or the way in
which fanfiction holds some position of an “…implicit or explicit notion of
canonicity” (Thomas 142) Thomas goes on to explain the way in which different
fanfiction sites and forums function under the guidelines of strict canonicity
or little to no restraints. For example, Thomas refers to the fan fiction forum
named Republic of Pemberley and how
it functions while “…demanding a high level of faithfulness and respect for the
source texts and their author.” (Thomas 145) Thomas goes on to make a point,
mentioning that sites such as these desire to have “more of” instead of “more
from.” In this specific context, Thomas aims to discuss a concept developed by
the British author, Sheenagh Pugh about canonicity and what certain fanfiction
sites desire in their content. “As Sheenagh Pugh (2005) puts it, ‘one thing all
fanfiction has in common is the idea of the “canon”, the source material
accepted as authentic and, within the fandom…” (Thomas 141) The expectation of
“more of” and “more from” is the key deciding factor of the content of any
given fanfiction site, or any subject which adopts a canon in some form. In the
case of Republic of Pemberley, the
users of this fanfiction site desire to read, “more of” the texts similar to
the writing of Jane Austen, “rather than to expand on or rework the source
texts.” (Thomas 146) This idea of canonicity and the way it functions within
fanfiction forums and all other sites, which have either developed some form of
canon or in the process of developing this notion, is especially applicable to
r/lifeofnorman. With the creation of the Book
of Norman this fictional world is given a basis and a set of concrete
elements which are understood to be what Norman’s life is and what it is not.
This led me to question the implications of publishing the Book of Norman, and how this compilation will alter the future
content of this site. Will Norman’s community adopt a “more of” or “more from”
mentality? Also, it may be worth exploring to what extent this canon and any
future publications will influence the ideas and expectations of the readers.
As the Nigerian and short story writer, Chimamanda Ngozi
Adichie, stated in her TED talk, “I've always felt that it is impossible to
engage properly with a place or a person without engaging with all of the
stories of that place and that person.” The name of her TED Talk was, “The
Danger of a Single Story.” The idea of a “single story” discussed by Adichie
means to talk about how a single perspective or understanding can limit one’s personal
and complete engagement with a specific subject. Adichie sheds light on this
issue by describing one of her personal experiences with a single story. When
she was a young girl, growing up in Nigeria the only literature she had access
to was written by British authors, containing white characters, who lived within
the context of European culture. For Adichie, this had some fairly noticeable
implications on her literary development, and caused her, as a child, to write
her own stories based around the British literature she had previously studied.
This concept of a single story leads me to think about some of the points made
by Thomas in her essay, and how it relates to Norman and his life. Thomas chose
to make clear in her writing about how canon can affect and influence future
works of fanfiction. Similarly, Adichie was limited by the canon of literature
in her own life which significantly influenced what she chose to write about as
a child. Likewise, all of these stories that lack any definite definition in of
the person Norman is, essentially allows for a diversification of what it means
to be normal. I believe that a published book based around Norman’s life will
reinforce some of the negative aspects of the single story, and as a result the
community of users and new uses will be limited in their personal engagement
with Norman; similar to Adichie and literature. Therefore, it will be the
community’s popular preference to either follow the mentality of, “more of” or
“more from” discussed by Thomas. In any case, I have already been able to observe
some potential transitions in individual user’s dispositions towards the
direction they feel r/lifeofnorman should be headed.
Recently I came across a comment made by the user,
CommanderCurls in response to one of the Norman stories that read, “I know
Norman can do whatever he wants but I like seeing him (Norman) as more of a
funny awkward person as opposed to anti-social.” I believe it is reasonable to
assume this specific user had read a fair share of Norman stories and had come
to a conclusion to what he or she desires to see in Norman. This is an
interesting notion because Norman is not technically “anti-social” or “funny
awkward,” Norman is yet to be confined to any set of personal stipulations.
Rather, Norman is subject to be an extension of the individual desires of those
who wish to write about him; which may be the direct result to the absence of
any explicit canon. The issue that arises in this situation is that the
Norman’s canon was developed a time after the creation of the subreddit and
could potentially lead the community to accept a preconceived idea of what is
true and “normal” in Norman’s world. Though, what is relevant to the creation
of this book is also what is defined as “normal” in our own lives and how these
stories enforce these ideas. Norman, as I have described, leads a day to day
existence that is so true to life that almost all readers and writers can
identify with it. This leads me to believe that maybe Norman is not merely just
a singular character developed from the minds of a diverse group of people, but
rather a meaningful reflection of the community and what they believe
constitutes normality. So when a community of user who create and establish
what it means to be “Norman” the scope of his personality and the form in which
the community projects their personal identities, may be limited by the
creation of a book.
One of the highest rated stories incorporated in the Book of Norman called, “Norman goes to
Redbox,” is a short description based around his personal desires and trivial
fears. In this 90 word anecdote, Norman wishes to rent a movie form the Redbox
at the grocery store down the street from his home. This event in Norman’s life
may seem to be incredibly tedious and unnecessary to the reader, though this is
an extremely plausible scenario not only in Norman’s life but potentially in
our own as well. As the story progresses Norman begins to approach the Redbox,
but before he is able to reach it a “young couple” arrives there first. Norman
proceeds to get nervous, buy a diet coke from the vending machine, and have
trouble sleeping that night due to the caffeine. This is just an example of the
way in which these anecdotes develop and implement a canon around Norman’s
existence. The book, which is a prospective set of guidelines and ideas for
r/lifeofnorman, constructs more than just the physical elements within his
life. As in the Redbox tale, nothing specifically physical was described, but
rather the emotional and mental state of Norman. This book is capable of
creating a concrete sense of personality for Norman, and as a result this may
continue to define the person he is and influence the future content of this
subreddit.
When
a reader or writer is able to partake in introspection they may be able to
relate and reflect on the person Norman is, as well as the actions and
possibilities of his life. Consequently, these stories which portray
occurrences which clearly remain within the boundaries of societal constraints
all prove to be an interesting statement on how a community may function
without a larger sense of conflict, but rather a sense of normalcy and finding
comfort and understanding in predictability. This is the reason that Norman and
his readers are able to coexist so fluently. As the subreddit grows and a wider
variation of users participate, Norman is given the ability to expand upon his
mental and emotional condition, simultaneously with his creators. This is the
reason that r/lifeofnorman is such a unique concept, from the many stories
which aim to convey Norman in a specific sense may not be relative to another
tale, because of this he has been given the opportunity to be an ever expanding
and evolving entity. Thus, Norman is not merely a singular character bound by
the development of a strict canon, but an individual to the universal
expression of ideas, aspirations, and emotions of a diverse group of redditors.
As the subreddit r/lifeofnorman progresses and the site
continues to develop its canon, Norman and the sum of the users aid in the
creation of a larger sense of what the subreddit strives to accomplish. As
Bronwen Thomas made clear in her essay, certain sites and communities either
follow a set of guidelines or do not, or may even be limited by a
single story. Nevertheless, the life of Norman permeates these ideas by
successfully creating a forum in which all readers and writers possess nearly
complete democratic will while synchronously relinquishing control to the
natural development of this fictional man. In conclusion, Norman is more than a
fictional character who faces these true to life situations we, in reality, may
have to deal with occasionally. He is a personality that is able to incorporate
much of what life is and translate this on a larger scope. Norman began
initially as a whimsical concept that was given the freedom to evolve into
multitudes and represent many.
Works
Cited
Adichie, Chimamanda N. "The Danger Of a Single Story." TED Talk. TEDGlobal. July 2009. TED. Web. 27 Feb. 2015.
“Norman
goes to Redbox.” Reddit. JackMancactus, June 2014. Web. 28 Jan. 2015.
“Norman
and the Office Visitor.” Reddit. Jolly_Line_Rhymer, 21 Jan. 2015. Web. 28 Jan.
2015.
Thomas. Bronwen. “Canons and Fanons: Literary Fanfiction Online.” Participating in Cultures of Writing and Reading. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2014. 141-150. Print.
