View source for Pastiche

{{Other uses}}
{{short description|Art genre based on imitating the style or character of other artists' work}}
{{use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}

[[File:Pastiche.jpg|thumb|A pastiche combining elements of paintings by [[Pollaiuolo]] and [[Botticelli]] (''[[Portrait of a Woman (Pollaiuolo)|Portrait of a Woman]]'' and ''{{ill|Portrait of a Young Woman (Botticelli, Florence)|lt=Portrait of a Young Woman|it|Ritratto di giovane donna (Botticelli Pitti)|fr|Portrait de jeune femme (Botticelli, Florence)|es|Retrato de una joven (Botticelli, 1475)}}'' respectively), using [[Photoshop]]]]

A '''pastiche''' ({{IPAc-en|p|æ|ˈ|s|t|iː|ʃ|,_|p|ɑː|-}};<ref>{{cite Dictionary.com|pastiche}}</ref><ref>{{cite Merriam-Webster|pastiche |access-date=2024-07-13}}</ref> {{IPA|fr|pastiʃ|lang|LL-Q150 (fra)-Pamputt-pastiche.wav}}) is a work of visual art, literature, theatre, music, or architecture that [[imitation|imitates]] the style or character of the work of one or more other artists.<ref name="princeton">{{cite book |title=The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MJVlZjIe5o8C&pg=PA1005 |page=1005 |isbn=978-0-691-15491-6 |editor=Roland Greene |editor2=Stephen Cushman |editor3=Clare Cavanagh |editor4=Jahan Ramazani |editor5=Paul F. Rouzer |editor6=Harris Feinsod |editor7=David Marno |editor8=Alexandra Slessarev |year=2012 |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]]}}</ref> Unlike [[parody]], pastiche pays homage to the work it imitates, rather than mocking it.<ref name="Hoestery 2001 p1">{{cite book |last=Hoestery |first=Ingeborg |title=Pastiche: Cultural Memory in Art, Film, Literature |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AfpcjdU5fD8C |year=2001 |publisher=[[Indiana University Press]] |location=Bloomington |isbn=978-0-253-33880-8 |oclc=44812124 |page=1 |access-date=2 August 2013}}</ref>

The word {{lang|fr|pastiche}} is the French borrowing of the Italian noun {{wikt-lang|it|pasticcio}}, which is a [[pâté]] or pie-filling mixed from diverse ingredients.<ref name="princeton" /><ref>''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' s.v. “pastiche, n. & adj.”, July 2023. https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/1154136639 </ref><ref>{{OEtymD|pastiche|accessdate=2013-08-02}}</ref> Its first recorded use in this sense was in 1878.<ref>{{OEtymD|pastiche|accessdate=2024-10-06}}</ref>  Metaphorically, {{lang|fr|pastiche}} and {{lang|it|[[pasticcio]]}} describe works that are either composed by several authors, or that incorporate stylistic elements of other artists' work. Pastiche is an example of [[eclecticism in art]].

[[Allusion]] is 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.<ref>{{Cite book |title=A Glossary of Literary Terms |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o9VkYJuVn9YC&pg=PA12 |isbn=978-1-4130-3390-8 |last1=Abrams |first1=Meyer Howard |last2=Harpham |first2=Geoffrey |year=2009| publisher=Cengage Learning }}</ref> Allusion and pastiche are both mechanisms of [[intertextuality]].

==By art==
{{anchor|Imitation}}
<!-- This section is linked from [[Film noir]] -->

===Literature===
{{see also|Dionysian imitatio}}
In literary usage, the term denotes a [[literary technique]] employing 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 of [[postmodernism]], pastiche has become positively construed as a deliberate, witty homage or playful imitation.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bowen |first1=C. |title=Pastiche |date=2012 |publisher=Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics |isbn=978-1-4008-4142-4 |page=1005}}</ref>

For example, many stories featuring [[Sherlock Holmes]], originally penned by [[Arthur Conan Doyle]], have been written as pastiches since the author's time.<ref name="RL">{{cite web |url=http://criminalbrief.com/?p=8047 |title=Pastiche Nuts |last=Lopresti |first=Rob |date=2009-08-12 |work=Tune It Or Die! |publisher=Criminal Brief |access-date=2010-01-10}}</ref><ref name="LL">{{cite web |url=http://criminalbrief.com/?p=125 |title=When Good Characters Go Bad |last=Lundin |first=Leigh |date=2007-07-15 |work=ADD Detective |publisher=Criminal Brief |access-date=2010-01-10}}</ref> [[Ellery Queen#Ellery Queen, the fictional character|Ellery Queen]] and [[Nero Wolfe]] are other popular subjects of mystery parodies and pastiches.<ref name="DA">{{cite web |url=http://criminalbrief.com/?p=3561 |title=The Pastiche |last=Andrews |first=Dale |date=2008-10-28 |work=Mystery Masterclass |publisher=Criminal Brief |access-date=2010-01-10}}</ref><ref name="DM">{{cite web |url=http://www.themysteryplace.com/forum/messages.aspx?TopicID=241 |title=Pastiche vs. fan fiction. Dividing line? |last1=Ritchie |first1=James |author2=Tog |author3=Gleason, Bill |author4=Lopresti, Rob |author5=Andrews, Dale |author6=Baker, Jeff |date=2009-12-29 |work=The Mystery Place |publisher=Ellery Queen, Alfred Hitchcock, Dell Magazines |location=New York |access-date=2010-01-10 |archive-date=31 December 2010 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20101231183853/http://www.themysteryplace.com/forum/messages.aspx?TopicID=241 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

A similar example of pastiche is the posthumous continuations of the [[Robert E. Howard]] stories, written by other writers without Howard's authorization. This includes the [[Conan the Barbarian]] stories of [[L. Sprague de Camp]] and [[Lin Carter]].
[[David Lodge (author)|David Lodge]]'s novel ''[[The British Museum Is Falling Down]]'' ([[1965 in literature|1965]]) is a pastiche of works by [[James Joyce|Joyce]], [[Franz Kafka|Kafka]], and [[Virginia Woolf]]. In 1991, [[Alexandra Ripley]] wrote the novel ''[[Scarlett (Ripley novel)|Scarlett]]'', a pastiche of ''[[Gone with the Wind (novel)|Gone with the Wind]]'', in an unsuccessful attempt to have it recognized as a [[Canon (fiction)|canonical]] sequel.

In 2017, [[John Banville]] published ''Mrs. Osmond'', a sequel to [[Henry James]]'s ''[[The Portrait of a Lady]]'', written in a style similar to that of James.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Elliott |first1=Helen |title=Mrs Osmond review: John Banville takes on Isabel Archer after Portrait of a Lady |url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/mrs-osmond-review-john-banville-takes-on-isabel-archer-after-portrait-of-a-lady-20180222-h0whl3.html |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=22 February 2018 |access-date=8 March 2019 }}</ref> In 2018, [[Ben Schott]] published ''[[Jeeves and the King of Clubs]]'', an homage to [[P. G. Wodehouse]]'s character [[Jeeves]], with the blessing of the Wodehouse estate.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Garcia-Navarro |first1=Lulu |title=Jeeves And Wooster, But Make It A Modern Spy Novel: An Interview with Ben Schott |url=https://www.npr.org/2018/12/02/672391198/jeeves-and-wooster-but-make-it-a-modern-spy-novel |publisher=NPR |date=2 December 2018 |access-date=8 March 2019}}</ref>

===Music===

[[Charles Rosen]] has characterized [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart's]] various works in imitation of [[Baroque music|Baroque]] style as pastiche, and [[Edvard Grieg]]'s ''[[Holberg Suite]]'' was written as a conscious homage to the music of an earlier age. Some of [[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky]]'s works, such as his ''[[Variations on a Rococo Theme]]'' and [[Serenade for Strings (Tchaikovsky)|''Serenade for Strings'']], employ a poised "classical" form reminiscent of 18th-century composers such as Mozart (the composer whose work was his favorite).<ref name="brown_ng18628">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Brown |first=David |article=Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich |title=The New Grove Encyclopedia of Music and Musicians |location=London |publisher=MacMillan |date=1980 |editor-last=Sadie |editor-first=Stanley |isbn=0-333-23111-2 |volume=18 |page=628}}</ref> Perhaps one of the best examples of pastiche in modern music is that of [[George Rochberg]], who used the technique in his String Quartet No. 3 of 1972 and Music for the Magic Theater. Rochberg turned to pastiche from [[serialism]] after the death of his son in 1963.

"[[Bohemian Rhapsody]]" by [[Queen (band)|Queen]] is 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.<ref name="An Invitation to the Opera">{{cite magazine|url=http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1995_articles/oct95/queen.html |title=An Invitation to the Opera |last=Baker |first=Roy Thomas |date=October 1995 |magazine=Sound on Sound |access-date=2010-09-29}}</ref> A similar earlier example is "[[Happiness is a Warm Gun]]" by [[the Beatles]]. One can find musical "pastiches" throughout the work of the American composer [[Frank Zappa]]. Comedian/parodist [["Weird Al" Yankovic]] has also recorded several songs that are pastiches of other popular recording artists, such as [[Devo]] ("[[Dare to Be Stupid (song)|Dare to Be Stupid]]"), [[Talking Heads]] ("Dog Eat Dog"), [[Rage Against the Machine]] ("I'll Sue Ya"), and [[The Doors]] ("[[Craigslist (song)|Craigslist]]"), though these so-called "style parodies" often walk the line between celebration (pastiche) and send-up ([[parody]]). Acclaimed [[Alternative rock]] band [[Ween]], known for their eclectic catalog of inspirations, have been argued to have created pastiches superior to their source inspirations.<ref name="The Affectionate Parodies and Ironic Diss-Positions of Ween">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.popmatters.com/the-affectionate-parodies-and-ironic-diss-positions-of-ween-2496210046.html |title=The Affectionate Parodies and Ironic Diss-Positions of Ween |last=Ellis |first= Iain |date=30 September 2007 |magazine=PopMatters |access-date=2024-04-14}}</ref>

A ''pastiche Mass'' is a musical [[Mass (music)|Mass]] where the constituent movements come from different Mass settings. Most often, this convention has been chosen for concert performances, particularly by [[early music|early-music]] ensembles. Masses are composed of movements: [[Kyrie]], [[Gloria in excelsis Deo|Gloria]], [[Credo]], [[Sanctus]], [[Agnus Dei (music)|Agnus Dei]]; for example, the ''[[Missa Solemnis (Beethoven)|Missa Solemnis]]'' by [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]] and the ''[[Messe de Nostre Dame]]'' by [[Guillaume 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 musical ''[[Follies]]'', a show about a reunion of performers from a musical [[revue]] set between the World Wars, [[Stephen Sondheim]] wrote over a dozen songs in the style of Broadway songwriters of the 1920s and 1930s. Sondheim imitates not only the music of composers such as [[Cole Porter]], [[Irving Berlin]], [[Jerome Kern]], and [[George Gershwin]] but also the lyrics of writers such as [[Ira Gershwin]], [[Dorothy Fields]], [[Otto Harbach]], and [[Oscar 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 (song)|"The Man I Love"]] and lyrics written in the style of Dorothy Fields.<ref>{{Cite book |first=Stephen |last=Sondheim |author-link=Stephen Sondheim |chapter=Follies |title=[[Finishing the Hat]] |location=New York |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |date=2010 |page=235}}</ref> Examples of musical pastiche also appear in other Sondheim shows including [[Gypsy (musical)|''Gypsy'']], [[Saturday Night (musical)|''Saturday Night'']], [[Assassins (musical)|''Assassins'']], and ''[[Anyone Can Whistle]]''.{{sfn|Sondheim|2010|page=200}}

===Film===
{{More citations needed|section|date=August 2025}}
Pastiche can also be a [[Cinematic techniques|cinematic]] device whereby filmmakers pay [[Homage (arts)|homage]] to another filmmaker's style and use of [[cinematography]], including camera angles, [[lighting]], and [[mise en scène]]. A film's writer may also offer a pastiche based on the works of other writers (this is especially evident in [[historical films]] and [[documentaries]] but can be found in [[non-fiction]] [[drama]], [[comedy]] and [[Horror film|horror]] films as well). Italian director [[Sergio Leone]]'s ''[[Once Upon a Time in the West]]'' is a pastiche of earlier American [[Westerns]]. 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."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://variety.com/2013/film/markets-festivals/quentin-tarantino-the-great-recycler-1200703098/ |title=Quentin Tarantino: The Great Recycler |first=Peter |last=Debruge |date=7 October 2013 }}</ref> Director [[Todd Haynes]]' 2002 film ''[[Far from Heaven]]'' was a conscious attempt to replicate a typical [[Douglas Sirk]] melodrama—in particular ''[[All That Heaven Allows]]''.

===Architecture===
[[File:Parliament at Sunset.JPG|left|thumbnail|The [[Palace of Westminster]] was built in a pastiche [[Gothic Revival architecture|Perpendicular Gothic Revival]] style in the Victorian period]]
In discussions of [[urban planning]], the term "pastiche" may describe developments as imitations of the building styles created by major [[architects]]: 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 of [[Vincent Harris]] and [[Edwin Lutyens]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=McKellar |first=Elizabeth |date=30 September 2016 |title=You Didn't Know it was Neo-Georgian |url=https://heritagecalling.com/2016/09/30/you-didnt-know-it-was-neo-georgian/ |website=Heritage Calling }}</ref> who created early 20th century [[Neoclassical architecture|Neoclassical]] and [[Georgian architecture|Neo-Georgian]]  architectural developments in Britain, or of later pastiche works based on the architecture of the modernist [[Ludwig Mies van der Rohe]] and the [[Bauhaus]]<ref>{{Cite news |title=An Architectural Guide on Bauhaus-Inspired Projects Around the World |url=https://www.archdaily.com/929457/an-architectural-guide-on-bauhaus-inspired-projects-around-the-world |website=Archdaily|date=12 December 2019 }}</ref> movement. The term itself is not pejorative.<ref>{{cite book |first=James Stevens |last=Curl |author-link=James Stevens Curl |title=Oxford Dictionary of Architecture |date=2006 |page=562}}</ref> [[Alain de Botton]] described it as "an unconvincing reproduction of the styles of the past".<ref>{{cite web |title=Alain de Botton: The Perfect Home |publisher=[[Channel 4]] |url=http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-perfect-home/episode-guide |url-status=dead |access-date=2015-11-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160207012254/http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-perfect-home/episode-guide |archive-date=2016-02-07}}</ref>
{{Clear}}

==See also==
{{Columns-list|colwidth=30em|
*[[After (art)]]
*[[Appropriation (art)]]
*[[Archetype]]
*[[Bricolage]]
*[[Burlesque]]
*[[Derivative work]]
*[[Doujinshi]]
*[[Eclecticism in music]]
*[[Fan fiction]]
*[[Canon (fiction)#Fanon|Fanon]]
*[[Fauxbergé]]
*[[Homage (arts)]]
*[[Mode (literature)]]
*[[Parody]]
*[[Postmodernism]]
*[[Satire]]
*[[Simulacrum]]
*[[Spiritual successor]]
*[[Swipe (comics)]]
}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
{{Wiktionary}}
* {{cite book |last=Jameson |first=Fredric |author-link=Fredric Jameson |chapter=Postmodernism and Consumer Society |title=The Anti-Aesthetic: Essays on Post-Modern Culture |url=https://archive.org/details/antiaestheticess00fost |url-access=registration |editor-last=Foster |editor-first=Hal |year=1989 |publisher=Bay Press |location=Seattle |pages=[https://archive.org/details/antiaestheticess00fost/page/111 111–125]}}
* {{cite book |last=Jameson |first=Fredric |author-link=Fredric Jameson |title=[[Postmodernism, or, the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism]] |year=1991 |publisher=[[Duke University Press]] |location=Durham |isbn=978-0-8223-1090-7 |oclc=21330492}}
*{{cite book |last=Dyer |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Dyer |title=Pastiche |year=2007 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |location=New York |isbn=978-0-415-34009-0 |oclc=64486475}}

{{Appropriation in the Arts}}
{{Literary composition}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:The arts]]
[[Category:Pejorative terms]]