This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
Describe Satire Parody Pastiche Discussion here.
Please! More CORRECT examples!
Jordan: I had a question about novels like the French Lieutenant's Woman or the Sot Weed Factors- they are pastiches of older forms of novels but also deconstruct them- which would make them satire as well, wouldn't it?
HeartBurn Kid: Nope, but it would make them parodies.
HeartBurn Kid: Reverted:
- About half of "Weird Al" Yankovic's songs are pastiches. They are not parodies, as they don't have specific songs in mind, nor do they adopt tunes directly, though they often satirize various aspects of society. These are the songs marked "Original" in accountings of Al's music such as Alsongs.com
; for example, "Don't Download This Song" from Straight Outta Lynwood is a pastiche of 1980's gospel fundraisers, but has an original tune and original lyrics.
- The other half of Al's work, not counting the polkas (which are covers), are parody. "Smells Like Nirvana", for instance, directly tweaks the reputation for unintelligibility of "Smells Like Teen Spirit", while "Six Words Long" implicitly jibes George Harrison's (and before him, James Ray) "Got My Mind Set On You" for its simplicity. And "Achy Breaky Song" ("Don't play that song, that achy-breaky song") is more or less transparent ... These songs are marked "Parody" on Alsongs.com.
...because somebody really didn't understand what was being said. Songs like "My Bologna" and "White and Nerdy" are not parodies; while they mimic a specific song, they don't really say anything about the song that is being pastiched; they don't directly make fun of a song. The specific examples mentioned ("Smells Like Nirvana", "Six Words Long", and "Achy Breaky Song") not only mimic the sound of a song, but actually mock the song in the lyrics.
Just passing through here, but I'm gonna haveta disagree due to the fact that if Weird Al's songs weren't parodies, he'd be in jail.
HeartBurn Kid: Not really; the VH 1 Behind the Music special on Al mentioned that he always gets permission to do his "parodies".
Ununnilium: The actual "other half", BTW, are his original songs. Yeah. He does those.
Scifantasy: As I made the change...here's the thing.
Al's original songs (such as "Don't Download This Song" or "Weasel Stomping Day," both off of the latest album) are still pastiches, because they're deliberate style parodies—that is, they are intended to sound like a certain genre. Wikipedia lists what they're pastiches of; one which comes to mind is "Dare To Be Stupid," a pastiche of Devo.
And then there's "Smells Like Nirvana," a clear parody of "Smells Like Teen Spirit."
But what's "White And Nerdy," then? I think it's more than a pastiche—it's not a question of style, the way the themes to Good Eats or The Simpsons can change as per the theme of the show, but a specific song with reworked lyrics—but as it's not referential to the song in question, you're saying it's not a parody. (Note: I disagree that "White And Nerdy" isn't about the original song, but that's a separate point.) So what would you call it?
I tend to call those parodies.
HeartBurn Kid: I would call them pastiches, and the dictionary would agree with me, as does the page itself.
Ellen Hayes: also, what in law is called "parody" or "satire" is not necessarily what is classified that way in literature discussion.
Prodigal Python: I recently bought the PC game Sam and Max: Season One and I was wondering where it rests on the Satire Parody Pastiche scale. It makes fun of things like former child stars, network television, the Bush Administration and the Internet, but I'm not sure if it's biting enough to be satire.
Ununnilium: It's satire. While satire is often more biting than parody, that's not what makes it satire; you can have vicious parody and soft satire.
Ununnilium:
- Wait, that was satire? So what you find in a can of "Swift's Premium Canned Ham" really is ham??
Cute, but Conversation In The Main Page.
Dalantia: I'm not sure if City of Heroes belongs on this page. It doesn't seem at first glance to be a pastiche, just a game that runs with Super Hero tropes.
Trogga: Was there any real reason to split this page?
