ABSTRACT
In the last decades the concept of a canon has figured prominently in theoretical debates about literature. The notion of a canon has been used in this debate as a critical primitive. The notion of a scriptural canon does not embody an evaluative element. 'Genuine and inspired' texts constitute a separate category that demand a certain kind of attention because they are sacred texts, but there is no reference to the quality of the texts built into the notion of authenticity. This concept of canon is fundamentally different from the notion of a scriptural canon since it contains no reference to authenticity. It does, however, embody the notion of authority. If literature is an institution, and there are good reasons for thinking of it in that way, it is an institution the concepts and conventions of which are not grounded in authority.
