Pastiche

Pastiche is a work or device built on the imitation, combination or compilation of the styles, motifs and images of other authors or ages, most often without the clear satirical intent of parody. In the classical understanding, pastiche is an imitative "medley" of recognisable others' manners; in the theory of Postmodernism (Fredric Jameson) pastiche acquired the meaning of a "neutral," critically pathos-free imitation characteristic of a culture that has exhausted original styles and plays with their fragments. Unlike parody, pastiche does not mock the model but neutrally reproduces or combines stylistic codes. Pastiche is one of the key concepts of the aesthetics of Postmodernism, closely linked to intertextuality, quotationality and the ironic play of cultural codes. It is studied by literary theory and the stylistics of postmodern writing.