Canon formation works by excluding certain questions from being asked

Evidence

All sorts of distinct movements- Imagism, Surrealism, Dadaism, Cubism, and so onduring the period later came to be canonized under the unified rubric of modernism. Once that category had been set in motion as the art of the twentieth century, however, what came after it could only be seen in relation to it (that is, it could only be a postof modernism itself). The hegemonic manoeuvre was evident, further, in the fact that any text which aspired to be included in the category of ‘what came after’ had (a) to have enough modernism within it and (b) also to diverge sufficiently in a new avantgardist way. In either case, processes of canon formation meant also that certain kinds of questions could not now be asked. One could not read a modernist or post modernist narrative from the standpoint of realism, for example, without being guilty of Derrida’s famous ‘metaphysic of presence’ The subordinating or even foreclo~ing of certain kinds of questions, the foregrounding of others, is the essential canonizing gesture. — Aijaz Ahmad, In Theory, 484

Categorization

• XREF: Directly relevant to the reader’s research: canonization as a discursive/foreclosure move parallels Ahmad’s core charge that discourse-first criticism forecloses material/class questions. This is the methodological template applied to ‘Third World Literature’ next. — connects to: Canon formation works by foreclosing certain questions while foregrounding others. — Aijaz Ahmad, In Theory: Classes, Nations, Literatures, 484; Canon formation selects and dominates by excluding texts that genuinely belong to a period — Aijaz Ahmad, In Theory: Nations, Classes, Literatures, 209; Canonization works by foreclosing certain kinds of questions — Aijaz Ahmad, In Theory: Nations, Classes, Literatures, 210 (+4 more)
• DEFINE: Defines the ‘essential canonizing gesture’ as the subordination/foreclosure of questions — a reusable critical definition.

Broader Connections

• Canon formation works by foreclosing certain questions while foregrounding others. #corroborates (0.97) — Aijaz Ahmad, In Theory, 484
• Canonization works by foreclosing certain kinds of questions #corroborates (0.93) — Aijaz Ahmad, In Theory, 210
• ‘Third World Literature’ functions as a counter-canon that limits admissible questions. #expands (0.90) — Aijaz Ahmad, In Theory, 485
• Canon formation selects and dominates by excluding texts that genuinely belong to a period #complicates (0.85) — Aijaz Ahmad, In Theory, 209
• Canon formation operates through selective admission, not outright exclusion #qualifies (0.85) — Aijaz Ahmad, In Theory, 189
• The Third World Literature canon marginalizes texts outside its authorized questions #exemplifies (0.80) — Aijaz Ahmad, In Theory, 211
• Canons do not exist until they are fabricated #complicates (0.75) — Aijaz Ahmad, In Theory, 75