Pastiche

noun

A work of literature, art, or architecture which borrows heavily from or mimics the technique of a preexisting work
A work of literature, visual art, or music composed primarily or entirely of selected material from a previous work or works
A combination, especially a discordant or incongruous one, of distinct things

verb

To make something in imitation of something else or as a combination of various other styles or creations

Usage

Pastiche is a word which could make you look pretty smart in a book club, an art show, or pretty much anywhere else. In a book club meeting, you might use pastiche to refer to one of several distinct compositional devices. The first kind of literary pastiche refers to a work which imitates the distinctive style of another author or work. It can be used either as a neutral classification or as a derogatory criticism. For instance, if you read a paperback fantasy novel which turned out to be little more than thinly veiled Lord of the Rings fan fiction, you might scoff and say, "This is nothing but amateurish Tolkien pastiche." Here, you would be using pastiche negatively to describe the book as an unimaginative imitation of a superior work. However, there is nothing necessarily wrong with imitation in itself. In fact, a pastiche is often an intentional imitation, intended as a loving tribute or homage, which is also a quality creation on its own merits. This can be seen not only in literature but also in architecture, art, or music. For example, if a bank were designed with red brick, white pillars, and a restrained symmetry, you might describe it as "a charming Georgian pastiche." You could also draw on the verb sense of pastiche and remark that the architect of that bank had tastefully pastiched the Georgian style.

The second kind of literary pastiche refers to a work which goes beyond merely imitating the style of an author or work and actually borrows material, such as characters or plot elements, from a work or works. For example, if your book club were discussing what work to read next, you might pipe up, "We might enjoy engaging with the play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, a thought-provoking pastiche of Shakespeare's Hamlet." You would be correct in characterizing Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead as a pastiche, since it portrays the story of Hamlet through the perspective of the two minor characters, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. It borrows the broad plot and many characters from Shakespeare's classic. Here again you could also draw on the verb sense of pastiche and state, "Tom Stoppard pastiches Shakespeare's masterpiece to make an innovative work of his own." Although a pastiche of this kind might sometimes subvert themes from its original or cast the original in a different light, it is distinct from a parody in that it is building on the foundation of the original work in order to do something new, not merely making a mockery of the original.

Just as a literary pastiche can be a work of literature fashioned from a variety of components appropriated from other works of literature, so pastiche can sometimes refer to any hodgepodge collection of things. For example, a vast vat of colorful jelly beans could be described as "a lively pastiche of candies." Similarly, if you had been accumulating Star Wars toys and other paraphernalia for ten years, your friends might say, "You have quite an impressive pastiche of Star Wars memorabilia here!" In both cases, there is a large group of a certain kind of thing with a lot of variety within that group.

Example: Writing pastiches patterned after authors with widely differing styles can be a valuable exercise for an emerging writer.

Example: Although the piece is highly experimental, the practiced ear cannot help but hear a clear pastiche of Fauré's "Pavane" in the second movement.

Example: This story is a charming pastiche which elaborates on the tale of the Jabberwocky, briefly recorded in Lewis Carol's poem in Through the Looking-Glass.

Example: Claudia's wardrobe is a fascinating pastiche of poor fashion choices.

Example: As a film director, you know you have really made it big once your work has been pastiched by other filmmakers.

Origin

There is a reason that pastiche sounds like it could have something to do with pasta, since it derives from the Italian word pasticcio, which refers to a kind of multilayered macaroni dish. Pasticcio was lifted directly from the Italian and used in English to refer to various hodgepodge combinations in the late 18^th century. Toward the end of the 19^th century, the French word pastiche, another adaptation of pasticcio, was adopted in English and largely replaced pasticcio. The Italian pasticcio comes in turn from the Latin adjective pasticcio, meaning "made of paste," which stems from the noun pasta, referring to a pastry cake.

Derivative Words

Pasticheur: This noun form refers to an artist or craftsperson who imitates the work or style of another artist or craftsman.

Example: Although Donnovan's paintings are very popular among amateur art fans, he is generally ridiculed by the artistic elite as a mere pasticheur.

Pastiches: This simple present form of pastiche is used when a singular, third-person subject draws heavily from one or more sources to create some piece of art.

Example: Even though he is now an accomplished artist in his own right, Torsky often pastiches some of his favorite artists from the past.

Pastiched: Pastiched is the preterit of pastiche, used as a verb to refer to a past act of imitative creation or as an adjective to describe something which has been created through pastiche.

Example: When I was young, I pastiched each new author I fell in love with, crafting a string of lackluster short stories.

Example: The film is a pastiched tribute to the zany action films of the 1980's.

Pastiching: This present progressive form of pastiche is used as a verb when someone is currently making a derivative artistic work or as a noun referring to the act of creating a pastiche.

Example: I am tired of pastiching more well-known bands and would like to start playing some original compositions!

Example: In an artistic scene where originality has been exalted above all else, it is not surprising that pastiching is sometimes confused with plagiarizing.

In Literature

From Michael Chabon's Maps and Legends:

The first short story that I ever wrote was a tale of Sherlock Holmes, a pastiche written in a clumsy, ten-year-old's version of the narrative voice of Dr. Watson.

Here, Chabon describes the first story which he wrote as a pastiche, because it was an imitation of and elaboration upon Doyle's corpus.

Mnemonic

If you copy and paste
every part of your art,
then your work is pastiche
from finish to start.