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pastiche

What is Pastiche? Definition, Usage, and Literary Examples

Pastiche Definition

A pastiche (pass-TEESH) is a literary work that imitates or borrows from another, typically better-known, literary work. Pastiche does not ridicule or mock the original work; it functions more as celebration and homage. This separates pastiche from parody, which is more pointed in its mockery, though both approaches possess a certain lightheartedness.

Pastiche can also mean a combination of multiple literary styles within a single work—a sort of hodgepodge of ideas and techniques. You can find examples of both types of pastiche in virtually every art form, from literature, music, and fine art to theatre, television, and movies.

The word pastiche comes from the Italian pasticcio, a type of pie filling made with many different ingredients. Pasticcio, interestingly, comes from the Vulgar Latin word pasticium, meaning “composed of paste,” which might describe how various styles and ideas are pasted together in a pastiche.

The Elements of Pastiche

When pastiche describes an imitative literary work, it can contain any number of elements borrowed from the original. Some of the most common include:

  • Characters: A writer of pastiche may lift aspects of characters—or entire characters altogether—from the original work. Lin Haire-Sargeant’s H: The Story of Heathcliff’s Journey Back to Wuthering Heights imagines what happened during Heathcliff’s three-year absence in the plot line of Emily Brontë’s original novel.
  • Ideas: The ideas presented by the original work’s author are a prime source of inspiration for the pastiche. These ideas can include major and minor plot points; the larger commentary the original author was making; and the philosophy of the original author or their character(s). In Alexandra Ripley’s Scarlett, a sequel to Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind, Ripley expands upon Mitchell’s original ideas, including Scarlett’s promised return to Tara.
  • Styles: An author of pastiche will often mimic the writing style and voice of the original author. Emulating style helps the pastiche feel like a natural continuation or spiritual companion to the source text. In his novel Mrs. Osmond, a sequel to Henry James’s The Portrait of a Lady, John Banville writes in a style and voice very similar to James.
  • Words: In some cases, a writer of pastiche will lift words directly from the original text to further underscore the connection between the pieces and authenticate this extension of the source. In Robert Benchley’s short story “Christmas Afternoon,” the author opens with the confession that he writes his piece “in the manner, if not the spirit, of” Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol. At one point, Benchley uses Tiny Tim’s words—with a slight, humorous variation—to describe a chaotic family scene on a Christmas afternoon: “God help us, every one!”

The other type of pastiche—a potpourri of styles—can include inspirations from a variety of sources. In literature, this often takes the form of multiple literary genres in one story. For example, Margaret Atwood’s novels The Handmaid’s Tale and Oryx and Crake blend science fiction, speculative fiction, and bits of fantasy and even fairy tale. In his novel Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell cobbles together an epic pastiche of period drama, satire, mystery, dark comedy, cyberpunk, and science fantasy.

The Function of Pastiche

Pastiche is meant to pay tribute to a meaningful literary work or style; this is true for both definitions of the term. Pastiche, as imitation, spotlights the original author’s work and the qualities of that author’s style and storytelling. In some cases, it allows readers to imagine what might have happened had the original author continued the story or further fleshed out certain aspects. Imitative pastiche tends to have a light and gentle timbre, not a mean-spirited or derisive one, so these works can be entertaining, readable, and, often, funny.

Pastiche, as a collection of styles, is also somewhat celebratory in nature. An author marries different genres to show how malleable and boundary-defying they can be and how they can combine to create wholly original literary works. Stylistic pastiche reflects more on the author of the pastiche and less on the authors or genres that inspired them.

Pastiche vs. Parody

There are subtle but crucial differences between pastiche and parody. The major one is tone. The goals of parody are humor and mockery—poking fun at another author’s ideas or style. A parody doesn’t necessarily equal cruelty or derision, but there is a tone of ridicule, even if it’s gentle. Pastiche doesn’t take this tonal approach. It pays respect to the original work by being both compliment and complement to said work.

Parodies can also stray far afield from the original work. This is usually done for comic effect—exaggerating character, story, or voice to lampoon the source text. An author of pastiche certainly uses their imagination and presents their stories in creative ways, but they often stick to more realistic approaches in their storytelling to show reverence for the original work.

Pastiche vs. Appropriation

Appropriation is the recontextualizing of existing ideas, which draws a fine line between it and pastiche. A pastiche in literature doesn’t borrow whole passages or ideas from another author’s work; some form of adaptation is necessary. Appropriation leaves the original intent of the source material intact but presents it in a different light. At the same time, appropriation isn’t plagiarism, as long as the original author receives acknowledgement or, in many cases, compensation.

Appropriation is more common in fine art and music than it is in literature, but one literary example is the poet Kenneth Goldsmith. Goldsmith practices self-described “uncreative,” conceptual writing by using other people’s words and arranging and presenting them in new ways. For instance, he took the autopsy report of Michael Brown, a young Black man killed by police, and “remixed” it into a poem.

Pastiche and Fan Fiction

Fan fiction is a type of pastiche in which writers expand upon the worlds and stories created in popular literary works. In most cases, the authors of fan fiction are not professional writers but self-identified fans of the source material.

The elements of fan fiction typically include copyrighted components of the original text: characters, settings, plots, and other kinds of intellectual property. However, because mainstream publishers rarely produce fan fiction, and therefore the genre exists primarily on the internet, it’s not generally considered a copyright or intellectual property violation.

Sometimes, fan fiction evolves into mainstream literature. E.L. James’s Fifty Shades trilogy started out as fan fiction of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series. When James’s stories took on a life of their own, she made significant changes to alter the characters, setting, and plot to avoid infringing on Meyer’s ideas.

Pastiche Outside of Literature

Pastiche is a device used by writers, fine artists, musicians, filmmakers, architects, and even crafters and cooks—virtually anyone with a creative outlet.

In music, much of Tchaikovsky’s work utilizes a traditionally classical form similar in sound to Mozart, who was one of Tchaikovsky’s favorite composers. The song “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen is a stylistic pastiche, melding rock, opera, torch-song, instrumental, and classical genres.

On the big screen, director Quentin Tarantino employs multiple genres in his films, making them difficult to categorize. He also frequently incorporates nods to earlier filmmakers and styles, as in Jackie Brown, an homage to the blaxploitation films of the 1970s. On the small screen, Netflix’s original series Stranger Things is a pastiche of different film genres popular in the 1980s, like science fiction, fantasy, and coming-of-age buddy movies. The relationship between the friends at the center of the story and their various adventures are a loving pastiche of the works of filmmakers like John Hughes, Harold Ramis, and Amy Heckerling.

Pastiche can also be found on the stage. Composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim often pays tribute to songwriters like Cole Porter and Irving Berlin in his music, mimicking their phrasing and rhythms. Samuel Beckett, especially in his earlier works, drew from multiple sources and styles to create his own unique form of theater, resulting in a layering of meaning that challenged audiences.

Architecture makes frequent use of pastiche. Architects will design works with elements that mimic the appearance of earlier creations. Two prominent examples are the British architects Quinlan and Francis Terry, who design ecofriendly buildings with neoclassical pastiche.

Notable Writers Who Use Pastiche

  • Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale
  • John Banville, Mrs. Osmond
  • Lin Carter, Conan the Barbarian
  • David Lodge, The British Museum Is Falling Down
  • David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas
  • Carole Nelson Douglas, Good Night, Mr. Holmes
  • Ben Schott, Jeeves and the King of Clubs
  • L. Sprague de Camp, Conan the Barbarian

Examples of Pastiche in Literature

1. Mimi Khalvati, “Don’t Ask Me, Love, for That First Love”

Khalvati’s poem is a pastiche of “Don’t Ask Me for That Love Again,” a poem by Pakistani author Faiz Ahmed Faiz. Khalvati opens the piece with the words, “after Faiz Ahmed Faiz,” which indicates that Faiz’s works and distinctive style inspired her to write the poem.

Khalvati uses a similar voice to speak to a departed lover, musing about the passage of time and the changing nature of love. This is very much like the ground explored by Faiz in “Don’t Ask Me for That Love Again.” One example is Khalvati’s line “In your sky,/ your eyes, were all my falling stars,” which mirrors the Faiz line “The sky, whenever I looked, was nothing but your eyes.”

2. Anthony Horowitz, The House of Silk

Horowitz’s novel is a pastiche of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes mysteries. While there have been countless pastiches of Doyle’s work over the years, this is the first to receive full authorization from the late author’s estate.

The House of Silk follows Holmes and Watson on a quest to find a missing necklace. This leads to the discovery of a murder, which the legendary duo soon tie to a vast conspiracy. In other words, it is a very Holmesian story.

Further Resources on Pastiche

Nasrullah Mambrol looks at the postmodern use of parody and pastiche.

Jeff Johnson discusses the difference between parody and pastiche.

Pan and the Pad offers advice on how to write a pastiche poem.