OUGD501 - Study Task 02 - Parody and Pastiche

Jameson discusses the role of parody in its contemporary concept. Postmodernism has transformed parody into a ‘blank parody’, which has no political ‘bite'. Humour and satire from parody is lost and it has become a dead language, or the new pastiche. Jameson makes the point that with the turn of modernism to postmodernism, came the turn of parody to pastiche, it dismantles creative techniques and forms from the past and throws together a diverse range which then loses its historical accuracy. In this world of pastiche, we lose our connection to the past. Nostalgia film is an example of this, romanticising the past.

“[we approach] the ‘past’ through stylistic connotation conveying ‘pastness’ by the glossy qualities of the image.” Jameson, 1991, 19

Jameson makes the point that we displace history in focussing on positive attributes.

However, Hutcheon sees parody as an effective postmodern tool. She calls it an 'Ironic re-reading of the past.' It’s an ironic quotation and politically is functional in challenging the world it is within. Hutcheon talks about the postmodern nature to focus on the production and reception of a piece of art and its parodic relation to the past. She mentions that postmodernism both “use and abuse” the forms and conventions in a parodic way.

“postmodernism art offers a new model for mapping the borderline between art and the world, a model that works from a position within both and yet neither, a model that is profoundly implicated in, yet still capable of criticising, that which I seek to describe.” Hutcheon, 2003, 180

Postmodernism is parodically mocking a form, or convention while still using it. It is contradicting its dependency upon it and its independence from its predecessor.

Jameson, therefore, argues that parody is no longer an authentic gesture, it no longer has a political bite and has become ‘blank parody’, because of its dependence on its predecessor’s forms and conventions. However, Hutcheon argues that that is the postmodern way, that that is what makes it parodic. The use of modernist forms and conventions in an ironic way is successful parody because, without modernity, there would be no such thing as postmodernity. It is true that without modernism there would be no postmodernism so therefore there is modernist parody and postmodernist parody. Jameson communicates a negative opinion based on personal preference to modernism whereas, Hutcheon, who is approaching the subject with an open mind, appreciates the quality of both.

There are examples of Jameson’s pastiche, or ‘blank parody’ in modern graphic design. Stranger and Stranger’s graphic design takes old techniques to create contemporary packaging design. Through its use of typography and detailing it coins on from old techniques from the late 19th century. However, similar from nostalgia film, ignores aspect of design from this era that is negative. There are examples of design from this time, particularly in advertising, that demonstrates gender and race inequality, thus focussing solely on the positive attributes to the design from that time.

This piece of advertising design for Skype is again, like Stranger and Stranger, using comedy and borrowing the visual and aesthetic styles from advertising in the mid 20th century, however ignoring the gender inequality from advertising from this era.

These examples of design are romanticising design from the era’s they are using in pastiche and ignoring the negative side to it. These two examples support Jameson’s theory of parody as a 'dead language'.

Hutcheon L, (2003) The Politics of Postmodernism: Parody and History, Oxford: Routledge, 180

Frederic J, (1991) Postmodernism, Or, The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism, Durham: Duke University Press, 19