Pastiche

Apastiche(/pæˈstiːʃ,pɑː-/)^[1]^[2]is a work of visual art, literature, theatre, music, or architecture thatimitatesthe style or character of the work of one or more other artists.^[3]Unlikeparody,pastiche pays homage to the work it imitates, rather than mocking it.^[4]

The wordpasticheis the French borrowing of the Italian nounpasticcio,which is apâtéor pie-filling mixed from diverse ingredients.^[3]^[5]^[6]Metaphorically,pasticheandpasticciodescribe works that are either composed by several authors, or that incorporate stylistic elements of other artists' work. Pastiche is an example ofeclecticism in art.

Allusionis not pastiche. A literary allusion may refer to another work, but it does not reiterate it. Allusion requires the audience to share in the author's cultural knowledge.^[7]Allusion and pastiche are both mechanisms ofintertextuality.

By art

Literature

In literary usage, the term denotes aliterary techniqueemploying a generally light-hearted tongue-in-cheek imitation of another's style; although jocular, it is usually respectful. The word implies a lack of originality or coherence, an imitative jumble, but with the advent ofpostmodernism,pastiche has become positively construed as a deliberate, witty homage or playful imitation.^[8]

For example, many stories featuringSherlock Holmes,originally penned byArthur Conan Doyle,have been written as pastiches since the author's time.^[9]^[10]Ellery QueenandNero Wolfeare other popular subjects of mystery parodies and pastiches.^[11]^[12]

A similar example of pastiche is the posthumous continuations of theRobert E. Howardstories, written by other writers without Howard's authorization. This includes theConan the Barbarianstories ofL. Sprague de CampandLin Carter. David Lodge's novelThe British Museum Is Falling Down(1965) is a pastiche of works byJoyce,Kafka,andVirginia Woolf.In 1991,Alexandra Ripleywrote the novelScarlett,a pastiche ofGone with the Wind,in an unsuccessful attempt to have it recognized as acanonicalsequel.

In 2017,John BanvillepublishedMrs. Osmond,a sequel toHenry James'sThe Portrait of a Lady,written in a style similar to that of James.^[13]In 2018,Ben SchottpublishedJeeves and the King of Clubs,an homage toP. G. Wodehouse's characterJeeves,with the blessing of the Wodehouse estate.^[14]

Music

Charles Rosenhas characterizedMozart'svarious works in imitation ofBaroquestyle as pastiche, andEdvard Grieg'sHolberg Suitewas written as a conscious homage to the music of an earlier age. Some ofPyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's works, such as hisVariations on a Rococo ThemeandSerenade for Strings,employ a poised "classical" form reminiscent of 18th-century composers such as Mozart (the composer whose work was his favorite).^[15]Perhaps one of the best examples of pastiche in modern music is that ofGeorge Rochberg,who used the technique in his String Quartet No. 3 of 1972 and Music for the Magic Theater. Rochberg turned to pastiche fromserialismafter the death of his son in 1963.

"Bohemian Rhapsody"byQueenis unusual as it is a pastiche in both senses of the word, as there are many distinct styles imitated in the song, all "hodge-podged" together to create one piece of music.^[16]A similar earlier example is "Happiness is a Warm Gun"bythe Beatles.One can find musical "pastiches" throughout the work of the American composerFrank Zappa.Comedian/parodist"Weird Al" Yankovichas also recorded several songs that are pastiches of other popular recording artists, such asDevo( "Dare to Be Stupid"),Talking Heads( "Dog Eat Dog" ),Rage Against the Machine( "I'll Sue Ya" ), andThe Doors( "Craigslist"), though these so-called" style parodies "often walk the line between celebration (pastiche) and send-up (parody). AcclaimedAlternative rockbandWeen,known for their eclectic catalog of inspirations, have been argued to have created pastiches superior to their source inspirations.^[17]

Apastiche Massis a musicalMasswhere the constituent movements come from different Mass settings. Most often, this convention has been chosen for concert performances, particularly byearly-musicensembles. Masses are composed of movements:Kyrie,Gloria,Credo,Sanctus,Agnus Dei;for example, theMissa SolemnisbyBeethovenand theMesse de Nostre DamebyGuillaume de Machaut.In a pastiche Mass, the performers may choose a Kyrie from one composer, and a Gloria from another; or choose a Kyrie from one setting of an individual composer, and a Gloria from another.

Musical theatre

In musical theatre, pastiche is often an indispensable tool for evoking the sounds of a particular era for which a show is set. For the 1971 musicalFollies,a show about a reunion of performers from a musicalrevueset between the World Wars,Stephen Sondheimwrote over a dozen songs in the style of Broadway songwriters of the 1920s and 1930s. Sondheim imitates not only the music of composers such asCole Porter,Irving Berlin,Jerome Kern,andGeorge Gershwinbut also the lyrics of writers such asIra Gershwin,Dorothy Fields,Otto Harbach,andOscar Hammerstein II.For example, Sondheim notes that the torch song "Losing My Mind"sung in the show contains" near-stenciled rhythms and harmonies "from the Gershwins'"The Man I Love"and lyrics written in the style of Dorothy Fields.^[18]Examples of musical pastiche also appear in other Sondheim shows includingGypsy,Saturday Night,Assassins,andAnyone Can Whistle.^[19]

Film

Pastiche can also be acinematicdevice whereby filmmakers payhomageto another filmmaker's style and use ofcinematography,including camera angles,lighting,andmise en scène.A film's writer may also offer a pastiche based on the works of other writers (this is especially evident inhistorical filmsanddocumentariesbut can be found innon-fiction drama,comedyandhorrorfilms as well). Italian directorSergio Leone'sOnce Upon a Time in the Westis a pastiche of earlier AmericanWesterns.Another major filmmaker,Quentin Tarantino,often uses various plots, characteristics, and themes from many films to create his films, among them from the films of Sergio Leone, in effect creating a pastiche of a pastiche. Tarantino has openly stated that "I steal from every single movie ever made."^[20]DirectorTodd Haynes' 2002 filmFar from Heavenwas a conscious attempt to replicate a typicalDouglas Sirkmelodrama—in particularAll That Heaven Allows.

In cinema, the influence ofGeorge Lucas'sStar Warsfilms (spawning their own pastiches, such as the 1983 3D filmMetalstorm: The Destruction of Jared-Syn) can be regarded as a function ofpostmodernity.^[21]^[22]

Architecture

In discussions ofurban planning,the term "pastiche" may describe developments as imitations of the building styles created by majorarchitects:with the implication that the derivative work is unoriginal and of little merit, and the term is generally attributed without reference to its urban context. Many 19th and 20th century European developments can in this way be described as pastiches, such as the work ofVincent HarrisandEdwin Lutyens^[23]who created early 20th centuryNeoclassicalandNeo-Georgianarchitectural developments in Britain, or of later pastiche works based on the architecture of the modernistLudwig Mies van der Roheand theBauhaus^[24]movement. The term itself is not pejorative.^[25]Alain de Bottondescribed it as "an unconvincing reproduction of the styles of the past".^[26]

References

^"pastiche".Dictionary.com Unabridged(Online). n.d.
^"pastiche".Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary.Merriam-Webster.Retrieved13 July2024.
^^a ^bRoland Greene; Stephen Cushman; Clare Cavanagh; Jahan Ramazani; Paul F. Rouzer; Harris Feinsod; David Marno; Alexandra Slessarev, eds. (2012).The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics.Princeton University Press.p. 1005.ISBN 978-0-691-15491-6.
^Hoestery, Ingeborg (2001).Pastiche: Cultural Memory in Art, Film, Literature.Bloomington:Indiana University Press.p. 1.ISBN 978-0-253-33880-8.OCLC 44812124.Retrieved2 August2013.
^Oxford English Dictionarys.v. “pastiche, n. & adj.”, July 2023.https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/1154136639
^Harper, Douglas."pastiche".Online Etymology Dictionary.Retrieved2 August2013.
^Abrams, Meyer Howard; Harpham, Geoffrey (2009).A Glossary of Literary Terms.Cengage Learning.ISBN 978-1-4130-3390-8.
^Bowen, C. (2012).Pastiche.Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics. p. 1005.ISBN 978-1-4008-4142-4.
^Lopresti, Rob (12 August 2009)."Pastiche Nuts".Tune It Or Die!.Criminal Brief.Retrieved10 January2010.
^Lundin, Leigh (15 July 2007)."When Good Characters Go Bad".ADD Detective.Criminal Brief.Retrieved10 January2010.
^Andrews, Dale (28 October 2008)."The Pastiche".Mystery Masterclass.Criminal Brief.Retrieved10 January2010.
^Ritchie, James; Tog; Gleason, Bill; Lopresti, Rob; Andrews, Dale; Baker, Jeff (29 December 2009)."Pastiche vs. fan fiction. Dividing line?".The Mystery Place.New York: Ellery Queen, Alfred Hitchcock, Dell Magazines.Retrieved10 January2010.
^Elliott, Helen (22 February 2018)."Mrs Osmond review: John Banville takes on Isabel Archer after Portrait of a Lady".The Sydney Morning Herald.Retrieved8 March2019.
^Garcia-Navarro, Lulu (2 December 2018)."Jeeves And Wooster, But Make It A Modern Spy Novel: An Interview with Ben Schott".NPR.Retrieved8 March2019.
^Brown, David (1980). "Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich". In Sadie, Stanley (ed.).The New Grove Encyclopedia of Music and Musicians.Vol. 18. London: MacMillan. p. 628.ISBN 0-333-23111-2.
^Baker, Roy Thomas (October 1995)."An Invitation to the Opera".Sound on Sound.Retrieved29 September2010.
^Ellis, Iain (30 September 2007)."The Affectionate Parodies and Ironic Diss-Positions of Ween".PopMatters.Retrieved14 April2024.
^Sondheim, Stephen(2010). "Follies".Finishing the Hat.New York: Alfred A. Knopf. p. 235.
^Sondheim 2010,p. 200.
^Debruge, Peter (7 October 2013)."Quentin Tarantino: The Great Recycler".
^Jameson 1991.
^Sandoval, Chela (2000).Methodology of the Oppressed.Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
^McKellar, Elizabeth (30 September 2016)."You Didn't Know it was Neo-Georgian".Heritage Calling.
^"An Architectural Guide on Bauhaus-Inspired Projects Around the World".Archdaily.12 December 2019.
^Curl, James Stevens(2006).Oxford Dictionary of Architecture.p. 562.
^"Alain de Botton: The Perfect Home".Channel 4.Archived fromthe originalon 7 February 2016.Retrieved11 November2015.

v t e Literary composition
General topics	Characterization Description Exposition Fiction writing Literature Writer Writer's block
Techniques/ devices	Linguistic contrast Literary contrast Cliché Idiom Trope
Methods	Writing process Prewriting Assemblage Cut-up technique Diegesis Mimesis Pastiche Plagiarism
Features	Writing style Writer's voice Grammatical mood Register Rhetorical modes Stylistics Tone
Forms	Creative nonfiction Essay Joke Novel Poetry Screenplay Short story
Beyond the arts	Articulation (sociological) Composition studies Technical writing