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I just posted this on my blog, but, I want to open it up to a greater discussion, so, I'm posting it here as well! Let me know what you think.
[size=+1]SHOULD KH TAKE "THE AUTHOR IS DEAD" APPROACH?[/size]
Lately, I’ve begun to feel that people put way too much stock in Kingdom Hearts director/creator Tetsuya Nomura’s interviews. A lot of people fail to understand that, when it comes to translating, it is more than just a direct word-for-word exchange. Translators make decisions, choose how something is worded and then it gets to the fans and they all take each and every word at face value, without understanding the process it went through. That isn’t to say that these translations are bad, it’s just that fans need to learn not to take them as law. Beyond that, I feel that people who work on Nomura’s word too heavily are destroying a great aspect of the series.
If there is every contradictions, or, what people like to refer to as “retcon” in the series, it’s usually because what happens in the games doesn’t line up exactly with what Nomura has said in an interview. People fail to understand that these games were works-in-progress when Nomura makes such comments and then when the game is finalized, people start screaming “liar” or “retcon” among other things. People just don’t understand. If they were to look at the games themselves, by themselves, people would see that no contradictions are made. The games mesh well with each other, it is only when interviews are taken into consideration does it seem a bit iffy.
It’s hard for me to explain why I feel like this now. For those of you who know me, in the past I even had an interview archive of Nomura’s interview (mostly because I was sick and tired of seeing posts that said “Nomura said…” when he never actually said anything like that). But this, in a way, highlights the problem. We’re all too focused on Nomura’s word. He is just one person, and it is more than just him that are making these games. Yes he is the primary creative force behind it, being the director, character designer, concept designer, and base scenario writer, but it isn’t just him. In the end, the games should stand on their own.
When people bring up things like the interviews and the novels and the manga, what they fail to realize is that those things are what we call secondary canon. The games are primary canon. Primary canon is what we should be concerned with as it is the final word on the actual story. If there is ever a discrepancy between the material, the primary canon wins.
I feel that when we hinge on Nomura’s word (Word of God, as some might say) we end up taking away one of the joys of the series: it’s mysteries. Kingdom Hearts is a series that plays largely with the idea of mysteries/answers. One game answers past mysteries while asking some new ones (or expanding old ones). The joy of Kingdom Hearts is trying to put the pieces together, but now we have Nomura answering mysteries himself in interviews, or saying something is this way instead of that way which causes people to “debunk” or shoot down fan theories. On one hand, this is nice because often confusing aspects of the series are explained simply; on the other hand, it limits the amount of creativity someone can look at the series with.
In my English class we talked about the idea of “The Author Is Dead” (what a shock, something taught in University is actually useful!). The idea behind this approach is that, when a piece of literary work is released and put out into the world (be it a novel, poem, movie, game, etc.) then the author is considered “dead”. That means, they no longer have a say in how their work is interpreted. That is, to say, there is no such thing as “Word of God”. All you have is the game to make your own conclusions off of. In this way, no interpretation or theory can really be false unless something in the canon/work actually goes against it. If you can build enough evidence for something, then you essentially can be right in your interpretation. If a new work is added into the canon (such as a sequel) that then disproves your idea, that’s alright because it still isn’t anything the Author is actually saying. It’s an interesting concept I thought, and, I’m beginning to wonder if this is how KH should operate.
For those of you who frequent KH forums, imagine going into threads without actually seeing “Nomura said this” or “Nomura disproves that”. Instead of just going to the Word of God, people would actually have to think for themselves, and consider new ideas and interpretations on how something in the series works or the answer to a particular mystery. They have to actually look at the -games- for the answers, instead of just “the manual” or “rulebook” that is Nomura’s word. Personally, I think that idea is a lot more freeing. We could look at unique interpretations of these games and their mysteries because we wouldn’t be chained down by what Nomura does or doesn’t say. All we’re left with is the games themselves.
The Author Is Dead.
[size=+1]SHOULD KH TAKE "THE AUTHOR IS DEAD" APPROACH?[/size]
Lately, I’ve begun to feel that people put way too much stock in Kingdom Hearts director/creator Tetsuya Nomura’s interviews. A lot of people fail to understand that, when it comes to translating, it is more than just a direct word-for-word exchange. Translators make decisions, choose how something is worded and then it gets to the fans and they all take each and every word at face value, without understanding the process it went through. That isn’t to say that these translations are bad, it’s just that fans need to learn not to take them as law. Beyond that, I feel that people who work on Nomura’s word too heavily are destroying a great aspect of the series.
If there is every contradictions, or, what people like to refer to as “retcon” in the series, it’s usually because what happens in the games doesn’t line up exactly with what Nomura has said in an interview. People fail to understand that these games were works-in-progress when Nomura makes such comments and then when the game is finalized, people start screaming “liar” or “retcon” among other things. People just don’t understand. If they were to look at the games themselves, by themselves, people would see that no contradictions are made. The games mesh well with each other, it is only when interviews are taken into consideration does it seem a bit iffy.
It’s hard for me to explain why I feel like this now. For those of you who know me, in the past I even had an interview archive of Nomura’s interview (mostly because I was sick and tired of seeing posts that said “Nomura said…” when he never actually said anything like that). But this, in a way, highlights the problem. We’re all too focused on Nomura’s word. He is just one person, and it is more than just him that are making these games. Yes he is the primary creative force behind it, being the director, character designer, concept designer, and base scenario writer, but it isn’t just him. In the end, the games should stand on their own.
When people bring up things like the interviews and the novels and the manga, what they fail to realize is that those things are what we call secondary canon. The games are primary canon. Primary canon is what we should be concerned with as it is the final word on the actual story. If there is ever a discrepancy between the material, the primary canon wins.
I feel that when we hinge on Nomura’s word (Word of God, as some might say) we end up taking away one of the joys of the series: it’s mysteries. Kingdom Hearts is a series that plays largely with the idea of mysteries/answers. One game answers past mysteries while asking some new ones (or expanding old ones). The joy of Kingdom Hearts is trying to put the pieces together, but now we have Nomura answering mysteries himself in interviews, or saying something is this way instead of that way which causes people to “debunk” or shoot down fan theories. On one hand, this is nice because often confusing aspects of the series are explained simply; on the other hand, it limits the amount of creativity someone can look at the series with.
In my English class we talked about the idea of “The Author Is Dead” (what a shock, something taught in University is actually useful!). The idea behind this approach is that, when a piece of literary work is released and put out into the world (be it a novel, poem, movie, game, etc.) then the author is considered “dead”. That means, they no longer have a say in how their work is interpreted. That is, to say, there is no such thing as “Word of God”. All you have is the game to make your own conclusions off of. In this way, no interpretation or theory can really be false unless something in the canon/work actually goes against it. If you can build enough evidence for something, then you essentially can be right in your interpretation. If a new work is added into the canon (such as a sequel) that then disproves your idea, that’s alright because it still isn’t anything the Author is actually saying. It’s an interesting concept I thought, and, I’m beginning to wonder if this is how KH should operate.
For those of you who frequent KH forums, imagine going into threads without actually seeing “Nomura said this” or “Nomura disproves that”. Instead of just going to the Word of God, people would actually have to think for themselves, and consider new ideas and interpretations on how something in the series works or the answer to a particular mystery. They have to actually look at the -games- for the answers, instead of just “the manual” or “rulebook” that is Nomura’s word. Personally, I think that idea is a lot more freeing. We could look at unique interpretations of these games and their mysteries because we wouldn’t be chained down by what Nomura does or doesn’t say. All we’re left with is the games themselves.
The Author Is Dead.