Pastiche

Genre in art and literature in which an already existing form of art is imitated and combined (often at random) with other forms. (See also: Collage). The term entered the English language via the French pastiche which derives from the Italian pasticcio meaning “pie” or “something blended”.

Origin

The origin of the genre pastiche is difficult to define. There have been blendings and borrowings of very different kinds in almost all realms of art in the course of time. The first to name a work of art itself pastiche was Marcel Proust. Proust wrote his Pastiches et mélanges in 1919 as a practice of literary convention (Bondy 1989). He distinguished between conscious and unconscious imitation, “pastiche volontaire” and “pastiche involontaire” (cf. Karrer 1977: 47). Proust stated that writing pastiches had a cathartic effect and could therefore be used not only to practice certain literary forms but also to get rid of the original’s influence. Later contemplations of the genre pastiche concentrate on the form of the conscious pastiche. A pastiche can be distinguished from plagiarism as it openly imitates while plagiarism is stealing someone’s ideas which is done without reference to the original.

Function

The imitation of the style of another author’s work(s) is regarded by Wolfgang Karrer as a tribute to the original piece of art. This distinguishes a pastiche from the genre of parody (in the non-postmodern definition) whose aim it is to criticize or satirize the work in question, often to a comical purpose. Nonetheless, pastiches can have a humorous, serious or satirical purpose. For the author, a pastiche can also serve the purpose of exercise or play. Generally, pastiches refer directly and obviously to the imitated text and therefore do not distance themselves ironically from it.

For many postmodern writers, a pastiche can serve the function of a “new” genre by putting together elements from already existing ones; Fredric Jameson argues that this motivation arises from the fact that present writers are not able to invent any new forms and thus have to revert to the mere combination an imitation of other’s works (cf. Lewis 2005: 115).

Characteristics

The pool of genres from which pastiches are made is not limited. A pastiche may refer to an original prose, lyrical, or dramatic work, or to letters, biographies etc. The extent to which it refers to the original also varies. While some scholars claim that a pastiche should not only refer to a certain author’s text but to all of his or her literary work, for others the language of a certain period or the style of a group of authors can constitute the base for a pastiche. The extent to which a pastiche is found in a text can also vary from short passages to the entire text.

Examples of pastiches in postmodern literature

• John Fowles’s novel The French Lieutenant’s Woman (1969), (imitating Victorian novelists)
• Umberto Eco’s novel The Name of the Rose (1984), (combination of detective fiction, historical novel and gothic novel)
• Peter Ackroyd’s novel Hawksmoor (1985)

Sources

• Baldick, Chris. Ed. The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms. 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.
• Bondy, François et al. Harenbergs Lexikon der Weltliteratur. Autoren, Werke, Begriffe. Band 4 Mar-Sam. Dortmund: Harenberg Lexikon Verlag, 1989.
• Karrer, Wolfgang. Parodie, Travestie, Pastiche. München: Wilhelm Fink Verlag, 1977.
• Lewis, Barry. “Postmodernism and Fiction.” The Routledge Companion to Postmodernism. Ed. Stuart Sim. 2nd ed. London and New York: Routledge, 2005. 111-122.
• Murfin, Ross and Supryia M. Ray. The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms. 2nd ed. Boston and New York: Bedford / St. Martin’s, 2003.
• Nünning, Ansgar. Ed. Metzler-Lexikon Literatur- und Kulturtheorie. 4th ed. Stuttgart: Metzler, 2008.