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Postmodern Theories: Bricolage and Intertextuality.



Levi-Strauss developed the concept of bricolage. He defined bricolage as texts constructed from debris of other texts. Texts borrow things from a variety of different texts to form something new. An example a a bricolage text is the album art for the Sex Pistols 'God Save The Queen' cover. The cover uses the image of the Queen which has been used with cut out words from a newspaper to create something new. Neither of the things used on the cover are new or original, but together they have been used to create something new.

Intertextuality is a similar concept, it is defined as the shaping of a text's meaning by another text.
It is used in many different films to create inside jokes within the text that will only be understood by those who have experienced/seen the other text that is being referenced. A prime example of the use of intertextuality is in the film Flushed Away when the main character meets an orange fish who says "Have you seen my dad?". This is an example of intertextuality as the film Finding Nemo is being referenced within another animated film. Intertextuality can also be seen in Shrek with the use of various popular fairytale characters and in the film The Lego Movie through their use of already existing characters who have been turned into Lego characters.

Intertextuality and bricolage are both used by theorists to define postmodernism but they also cross over other postmodern theories such as parody and pastiche.

Postmoden Theories: Pastiche, Homage and Parody


Pastiche, homage and parody are all similar styles but there are slight differences which differentiate them from one another.

Pastiche is defined as 'a medley of various ingredients; a hotchpotch, farrago, jumble'. It is a style which is a tongue-in-cheek light-hearted imitation of another's style which unlike a parody is respectful. Star Wars has been considered as a pastiche of traditional science fiction television and radio shows. Tarantino's films are also often considered as pastiche because of how they mis together a variety of different styles and generic convention. The theorist Jameson said that we imitate old dead styles from the past through pastiche.

A parody is a work which mimic in an absurd or ridiculous way the conventions and style of another work. It aims to ridicule, derive ironic comment or affectionate fun. There are many examples of parody in television and film, such as the Scary Movie films and the film The Starving Games. There are also more subtle versions of parody such as the imitation of Antonio Banderas of himself as Puss in Boots in Shrek. 

Homage is a text which pays respect to another text or style. It is usually used by creatives to pay respect to those who have influenced them. An example is the television series Sherlock which is based upon the original Arthur Conan Doyle stories but set in modern day. The creators of the show, Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, were childhood fans of Sherlock Holmes and Conan Doyle, they use Sherlock as a way to honour and pay respect to the stories that they grew up loving. 
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