ABSTRACT
In the 1980s and 1990s, the so-called ‘canon wars,’ starting in the United States and occurring in the wake of post-structuralism and postmodernism, instigated a thorough re-consideration of canon theory in general literary studies. Former canon models based on the assumption of universal aesthetics or human values have since been thoroughly challenged and revised. As a consequence, we are now confronted with a welter of canons as well as canon theories. The following positions outline some major tendencies and are by no means a complete list of available approaches.
