Essay: Study Task 03 - Parody and Pastiche

Parody and Pastiche are both examples of intertextuality, which means how one text is shown and understood, by understanding other texts. When discussing the relationship between parody and pastiche, Jameson shows his dislike towards pastiche describing its as 'a neutral piece of mimicry, without any of parody's ulterior motives, devoid of laughter.' Whereas Hutcheon takes a positive approach towards pastiche, more specifically so in architecture, she believes that, "parody signals how present representations come from past ones and what ideological consequences derive from both continuity and difference".

Jameson’s idea of pastiche is contrasted to Hutcheon’s understanding of parody. Whereas Jameson sees pastiche as ‘blank parody’ and sees the word as a 'cannibalisation of the past’. Hutcheon believes it shows historical awareness and embracement of out culture, "Parody, often called ironic quotation, pastiche, appropriation, or intertextuality is usually considered central to postmodernism”.

Examples of this used within design are the nostalgic rebrands of the likes of Kodak, Natwest and Coop. "The NatWest rebrand and Co-op’s earlier this year have something in significant in common a delve into the company’s design archives, specifically a return to 1960s logos, and this has stirred up a discussion across the industry about nostalgia in branding."

These examples show Jameson ideas that we are losing out connection with history, rather than creating new, "The new spatial logic of the simulacrum can now be expected to have a momentous effect on what used to be historical time".Whereas Hutcheon argues that the values that pastiche and design of this time holds is valuable, "Postmodernism is both academic and popular, élitist and accessible".

Another example of pastiche and parody being used in design is that of Stranger and Stranger, the designs of whisky inherently convey designs of that from the victorian times, therefore creating parody and pastiche of the designs of that time into something modern, being sold today. Hutcheon states that these postmodernist designs are better "to talk to consumers in a capitalist society in a way that will get us where we live, so to speak".

Frederic Jameson 
Linda Hitcheon
Jenny Brewer - It's Nice That