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A parody is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of
satirical Satire is a genre of the visual arts, visual, literature, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently Nonfiction, non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ...
or
ironic Irony, in its broadest sense, is the juxtaposition of what, on the surface, appears to be the case with what is actually or expected to be the case. Originally a rhetorical device and literary technique, in modernity, modern times irony has a ...
imitation Imitation (from Latin ''imitatio'', "a copying, imitation") is a behavior whereby an individual observes and replicates another's behavior. Imitation is also a form of learning that leads to the "development of traditions, and ultimately our cu ...
. Often its subject is an
original work Originality is the aspect of created or invented works that distinguish them from reproductions, clones, forgeries, or substantially derivative works. The modern idea of originality is according to some scholars tied to Romanticism, by a notion t ...
or some aspect of it (theme/content, author, style, etc), but a parody can also be about a real-life person (e.g. a politician), event, or movement (e.g. the French Revolution or
1960s counterculture The counterculture of the 1960s was an anti-establishment cultural phenomenon and political movement that developed in the Western world during the mid-20th century. It began in the early 1960s, and continued through the early 1970s. It is oft ...
). Literary scholar Professor Simon Dentith defines parody as "any cultural practice which provides a relatively
polemic Polemic ( , ) is contentious rhetoric intended to support a specific position by forthright claims and to undermine the opposing position. The practice of such argumentation is called polemics, which are seen in arguments on controversial to ...
al allusive imitation of another cultural production or practice". The literary theorist
Linda Hutcheon Linda Hutcheon, FRSC, OC (born August 24, 1947) is a Canadian academic working in the fields of literary theory and criticism, opera, and Canadian studies. She is a University Professor Emeritus in the Department of English and of the Centre f ...
said "parody ... is imitation, not always at the expense of the parodied text." Parody may be found in art or culture, including
literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...
,
music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...
,
theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communi ...
,
television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...
and
film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...
,
animation Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animati ...
, and
gaming Gaming may refer to: Games and sports The act of playing games, as in: * Legalized gambling, playing games of chance for money, often referred to in law as "gaming" * Playing a role-playing game, in which players assume fictional roles * Playing ...
. The writer and critic
John Gross John Gross FRSL (12 March 1935 – 10 January 2011) was an English man of letters. A leading intellectual, writer, anthologist, and critic. ''The Guardian'' (in a tribute titled "My Hero") and ''The Spectator'' were among several publication ...
observes in his ''Oxford Book of Parodies'', that parody seems to flourish on territory somewhere between
pastiche A pastiche () is a work of visual art, literature, theatre, music, or architecture that imitates the style or character of the work of one or more other artists. Unlike parody, pastiche pays homage to the work it imitates, rather than mocking ...
("a composition in another artist's manner, without satirical intent") and
burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.
(which "fools around with the material of high literature and adapts it to low ends"). Meanwhile, the ''
Encyclopédie , better known as ''Encyclopédie'' (), was a general encyclopedia published in France between 1751 and 1772, with later supplements, revised editions, and translations. It had many writers, known as the Encyclopédistes. It was edited by Denis ...
'' of
Denis Diderot Denis Diderot (; ; 5 October 171331 July 1784) was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer, best known for serving as co-founder, chief editor, and contributor to the along with Jean le Rond d'Alembert. He was a prominent figure during th ...
distinguishes between the parody and the burlesque, "A good parody is a fine amusement, capable of amusing and instructing the most sensible and polished minds; the burlesque is a miserable buffoonery which can only please the populace." Historically, when a formula grows tired, as in the case of the moralistic melodramas in the 1910s, it retains value only as a parody, as demonstrated by the
Buster Keaton Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) was an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. He is best known for his silent films during the 1920s, in which he performed physical comedy and inventive stunts. He frequently ...
shorts that mocked that genre.


Terminology

A parody may also be known as a spoof, a
satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of exposin ...
, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a
caricature A caricature is a rendered image showing the features of its subject in a simplified or exaggerated way through sketching, pencil strokes, or other artistic drawings (compare to: cartoon). Caricatures can be either insulting or complimentary, ...
.


Origins

According to
Aristotle Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...
(''
Poetics Poetics is the study or theory of poetry, specifically the study or theory of device, structure, form, type, and effect with regards to poetry, though usage of the term can also refer to literature broadly. Poetics is distinguished from hermeneu ...
'', ii. 5),
Hegemon of Thasos Hegemon of Thasos () was a Greek writer of the Old Comedy. Hardly anything is known of him, except that he flourished during the Peloponnesian War. According to Aristotle (''Poetics'', ii. 5) he was the inventor of a kind of parody; by slightly ...
was the inventor of a kind of parody; by slightly altering the wording in well-known poems he transformed the sublime into the ridiculous. In ancient
Greek literature Greek literature () dates back from the ancient Greek literature, beginning in 800 BC, to the modern Greek literature of today. Ancient Greek literature was written in an Ancient Greek dialect, literature ranges from the oldest surviving wri ...
, a ''parodia'' was a narrative poem imitating the style and prosody of
epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale Epic(s) ...
s "but treating light, satirical or
mock-heroic Mock-heroic, mock-epic or heroi-comic works are typically satires or parodies that mock common Classical stereotypes of heroes and heroic literature. Typically, mock-heroic works either put a fool in the role of the hero or exaggerate the heroic ...
subjects". Indeed, the components of the Greek word are παρά ''para'' "beside, counter, against" and ᾠδή ''oide'' "song". Thus, the original Greek word παρῳδία ''parodia'' has sometimes been taken to mean "counter-song", an imitation that is set against the original. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'', for example, defines parody as imitation "turned as to produce a ridiculous effect". Because ''par-'' also has the non-antagonistic meaning of ''beside'', "there is nothing in ''parodia'' to necessitate the inclusion of a concept of ridicule." In Greek
Old Comedy Old Comedy is the first period of the ancient Greek comedy, according to the canonical division by the Alexandrian grammarians.Mastromarco (1994) p.12 The most important Old Comic playwright is Aristophanes – whose works, with their daring pol ...
even the gods could be made fun of. ''
The Frogs ''The Frogs'' (; , often abbreviated ''Ran.'' or ''Ra.'') is a comedy written by the Ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes. It was performed at the Lenaia, one of the Festivals of Dionysus in Athens, in 405 BC and received first place. The pla ...
'' portrays the hero-turned-god
Heracles Heracles ( ; ), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a Divinity, divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of ZeusApollodorus1.9.16/ref> and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptive descent through ...
as a glutton and the God of Drama
Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, myth, Dionysus (; ) is the god of wine-making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre. He was also known as Bacchus ( or ; ...
as cowardly and unintelligent. The traditional trip to the
Underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld. ...
story is parodied as Dionysus dresses as Heracles to go to the Underworld, in an attempt to bring back a poet to save Athens. The
Ancient Greeks Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically re ...
created
satyr play The satyr play is a form of Attic theatre performance related to both comedy and tragedy. It preserves theatrical elements of dialogue, actors speaking verse, a chorus that dances and sings, masks and costumes. Its relationship to tragedy is st ...
s which parodied
tragic play A tragedy is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character or cast of characters. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy is to invoke an accompanying catharsis, or a "pain ...
s, often with performers dressed like
satyrs In Greek mythology, a satyr (, ), also known as a silenus or ''silenos'' ( ), and sileni (plural), is a male nature spirit with ears and a tail resembling those of a horse, as well as a permanent, exaggerated erection. Early artistic represen ...
. Parody was used in early Greek philosophical texts to make philosophical points. Such texts are known as ''
spoudaiogeloion Spoudaiogeloion () denotes the mixture of serious and comical elements stylistically. The word comes from the Greek σπουδαῖον ''spoudaion'', "serious", and γελοῖον ''geloion'', "comical". The concept of the word, but not the word ...
,'' a famous example of which is the ''
Silloi Timon of Phlius (; , , ; BCc. 235 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosopher from the Hellenistic period, who was the student of Pyrrho. Unlike Pyrrho, who wrote nothing, Timon wrote satirical philosophical poetry called ''Silloi'' () as well ...
'' by
Pyrrhonist Pyrrhonism is an Ancient Greek school of philosophical skepticism which rejects dogma and advocates the suspension of judgement over the truth of all beliefs. It was founded by Aenesidemus in the first century BCE, and said to have been inspired ...
philosopher
Timon of Phlius Timon of Phlius (; , , ; BCc. 235 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosopher from the Hellenistic period, who was the student of Pyrrho. Unlike Pyrrho, who wrote nothing, Timon wrote satirical philosophical poetry called ''Silloi'' () as well ...
which parodied philosophers living and dead. The style was a rhetorical mainstay of the Cynics and was the most common tone of the works made by
Menippus Menippus of Gadara (; ''Menippos ho Gadareus''; fl. 3rd century BC) was a Cynic satirist. The Menippean satire genre is named after him. His works, all of which are lost, were an important influence on Varro and Lucian, who ranks Menippus wi ...
and
Meleager of Gadara Meleager of Gadara ( ; fl. 1st century BC) was a poet and collector of epigrams. He wrote some satire, satirical prose, now lost, and some sensual poetry, of which 134 epigrams survive. Life Meleager was the son of Eucrates, born in the city of ...
. In the 2nd century CE,
Lucian of Samosata Lucian of Samosata (Λουκιανὸς ὁ Σαμοσατεύς, 125 – after 180) was a Hellenized Syria (region), Syrian satire, satirist, rhetorician and pamphleteer who is best known for his characteristic tongue-in-cheek style, with whi ...
created a parody of travel texts such as '' Indica'' and ''
The Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divi ...
''. He described the authors of such accounts as liars who had never traveled, nor ever talked to any credible person who had. In his ironically named book ''
True History ''A True Story'' (, ''Alēthē diēgēmata''; or ), also translated as ''True History'', is a long novella or short novel written in the second century AD by the Syrian author Lucian of Samosata. The novel is a satire of outlandish tales that h ...
'' Lucian delivers a story which exaggerates the hyperbole and improbable claims of those stories. Sometimes described as the first
science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
, the
characters Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to Theoph ...
travel to the Moon, engage in interplanetary war with the help of aliens they meet there, and then return to Earth to experience civilization inside a 200-mile-long creature generally interpreted as being a whale. This is a parody of
Ctesias Ctesias ( ; ; ), also known as Ctesias of Cnidus, was a Greek physician and historian from the town of Cnidus in Caria, then part of the Achaemenid Empire. Historical events Ctesias, who lived in the fifth century BC, was physician to the Acha ...
' claims that India has a one-legged race of humans with a single foot so huge it can be used as an umbrella,
Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...
's stories of one-eyed giants, and so on.


Related terms

Parody exists in the following related genres:
satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of exposin ...
, travesty,
pastiche A pastiche () is a work of visual art, literature, theatre, music, or architecture that imitates the style or character of the work of one or more other artists. Unlike parody, pastiche pays homage to the work it imitates, rather than mocking ...
,
skit Skit may refer to: * * A short segment in a performance, such as: ** Sketch comedy ** Hip hop skit ** Puppet skit ** Promo (professional wrestling) * Skit note, parody of a banknote * "Skit", a song by Bad Gyal from '' La joia'', 2024 See als ...
,
burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.
.


Satire

Satires and parodies are both derivative works that exaggerate their source material(s) in humorous ways. However, a satire is meant to make fun of the real world, whereas a parody is a derivative of a specific work ("specific parody") or a general genre ("general parody" or "spoof"). Furthermore, satires are provocative and critical as they point to a specific vice associated with an individual or a group of people to mock them into correction or as a form of punishment. In contrast, parodies are more focused on producing playful
humor Humour ( Commonwealth English) or humor (American English) is the tendency of experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humoral medicine of the ancient Greeks, which taught that the balance of fluids i ...
and do not always attack or criticize its targeted work and/or genre. Of course, it is possible for a parody to maintain satiric elements without crossing into satire itself, as long as its "light verse with modest aspirations" ultimately dominates the work.


Travesty

A travesty imitates and transforms a work, but focuses more on the satirization of it. Because satire is meant to attack someone or something, the harmless playfulness of parody is lost.


Pastiche

A pastiche imitates a work as a parody does, but unlike a parody, pastiche is neither transformative of the original work, nor is it humorous. Literary critic
Fredric Jameson Fredric Ruff Jameson (April 14, 1934 – September 22, 2024) was an American literary critic, philosopher and Marxist political theorist. He was best known for his analysis of contemporary cultural trends, particularly his analysis of postmode ...
has referred to the pastiche as a "blank parody", or "parody that has lost its sense of humor".


Skit

Skits imitate works "in a satirical regime". But unlike travesties, skits do not transform the source material.


Burlesque

The burlesque primarily targets heroic poems and theater to degrade popular heroes and gods, as well as mock the common tropes within the genre. Simon Dentith has described this type of parody as "parodic anti-heroic drama".


Spoof

A parody imitates and mocks a specific, recognizable work (e.g. a book, movie, etc.) or the characteristic style of a particular author. A spoof mocks an entire genre by exaggerating its conventions and cliches for humorous effect.


Music

In
classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...
, as a technical term, ''parody'' refers to a reworking of one kind of composition into another (for example, a
motet In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the preeminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to the Eng ...
into a keyboard work as
Girolamo Cavazzoni Girolamo (''Hieronimo'') Cavazzoni (c. 1525 – after 1577) was an Italian organist and composer, son of Marco Antonio Cavazzoni. Little is known about his life except that he worked at Venice and Mantua, and published two collections of organ mus ...
,
Antonio de Cabezón Antonio de Cabezón (30 March 1510 – 26 March 1566) was a Spanish Renaissance composer and organist. Blind from childhood, he quickly rose to prominence as a performer and was eventually employed by the royal family. He was among the most impor ...
, and
Alonso Mudarra Alonso Mudarra (c. 1510 – April 1, 1580) was a Spanish composer of the Renaissance, and also played the vihuela, a guitar-shaped string instrument. He was an innovative composer of instrumental music as well as songs, and was the composer ...
all did to
Josquin des Prez Josquin Lebloitte dit des Prez ( – 27 August 1521) was a composer of High Renaissance music, who is variously described as French or Franco-Flemish. Considered one of the greatest composers of the Renaissance, he was a central figure of the ...
motet In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the preeminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to the Eng ...
s).Tilmouth, Michael and Richard Sherr
"Parody (i)"
Grove Music Online, Oxford Music Online, accessed 19 February 2012
More commonly, a
parody mass A parody mass is a musical setting of the mass, typically from the 16th century, that uses multiple voices of a pre-existing piece of music, such as a fragment of a motet or a secular ''chanson'', as part of its melodic material. It is distinguis ...
(''missa parodia'') or an
oratorio An oratorio () is a musical composition with dramatic or narrative text for choir, soloists and orchestra or other ensemble. Similar to opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguisha ...
used extensive quotation from other vocal works such as motets or
cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian language, Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal music, vocal Musical composition, composition with an musical instrument, instrumental accompaniment, ty ...
s;
Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...
,
Palestrina Palestrina (ancient ''Praeneste''; , ''Prainestos'') is a modern Italian city and ''comune'' (municipality) with a population of about 22,000, in Lazio, about east of Rome. It is connected to the latter by the Via Prenestina. It is built upon ...
,
Lassus Orlando di Lasso ( various other names; probably – 14 June 1594) was a composer of the late Renaissance. The chief representative of the mature polyphonic style in the Franco-Flemish school, Lassus stands with William Byrd, Giovanni Pierlu ...
, and other composers of the 16th century used this technique. The term is also sometimes applied to procedures common in the
Baroque period The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from the early 17th century until the 1750s. It followed Renaissance art and Mannerism and preceded the Rococo (in ...
, such as when
Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the or ...
reworks music from
cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian language, Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal music, vocal Musical composition, composition with an musical instrument, instrumental accompaniment, ty ...
s in his ''
Christmas Oratorio The ''Christmas Oratorio'' (German: ''Weihnachtsoratorium''), , is an oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach intended for performance in church during the Christmas season. It is in six parts, each part a cantata intended for performance in a churc ...
''. The musicological definition of the term ''parody'' has now generally been supplanted by a more general meaning of the word. In its more contemporary usage,
musical parody Parody music, or musical parody, involves changing or copying existing (usually well known) musical ideas, and/or lyrics, or copying the particular style of a composer or performer, or even a general style of music. In music, parody has been us ...
usually has humorous, even satirical intent, in which familiar musical ideas or lyrics are lifted into a different, often incongruous, context.Burkholder, J. Peter
"Borrowing"
Grove Music Online, Oxford Music Online, accessed 19 February. 2012
Musical parodies may imitate or refer to the peculiar style of a composer or artist, or even a general style of music. For example, "The Ritz Roll and Rock", a song and dance number performed by
Fred Astaire Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz, May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, actor, singer, musician, choreographer, and presenter, whose career in stage, film, and television spanned 76 years. He is widely regarded as the "g ...
in the movie ''
Silk Stockings ''Silk Stockings'' is a musical with a book by George S. Kaufman, Leueen MacGrath, and Abe Burrows and music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The musical is loosely based on the Melchior Lengyel story ''Ninotchka'' and the 1939 film adaptation it ...
'', parodies the
rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...
genre. Conversely, while the best-known work of
"Weird Al" Yankovic Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American comedy musician, writer, and actor. He is best known for writing and performing Comedy music, comedy songs that often Parody music, parody specific songs by contempo ...
is based on particular popular songs, it also often utilises wildly incongruous elements of
pop culture Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art pop_art.html" ;"title="f. pop art">f. pop artor mass art, some ...
for comedic effect.


English term

The first usage of the word ''parody'' in English cited in the ''
Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the principal historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP), a University of Oxford publishing house. The dictionary, which published its first editio ...
'' is in
Ben Jonson Benjamin Jonson ( 11 June 1572 – ) was an English playwright, poet and actor. Jonson's artistry exerted a lasting influence on English poetry and stage comedy. He popularised the comedy of humours; he is best known for the satire, satirical ...
, in ''Every Man in His Humour'' in 1598: "A Parodie, a parodie! to make it absurder than it was." The next citation comes from
John Dryden John Dryden (; – ) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration (En ...
in 1693, who also appended an explanation, suggesting that the word was in common use, meaning to make fun of or re-create what you are doing.


Modernist and post-modernist parody

Since the 20th century, parody has been heightened as the central and most representative artistic device, the catalysing agent of artistic creation and innovation.Sheinberg (2000) pp.141, 150Stavans (1997
p.37
/ref> This most prominently happened in the second half of the century with
postmodernism Postmodernism encompasses a variety of artistic, Culture, cultural, and philosophical movements that claim to mark a break from modernism. They have in common the conviction that it is no longer possible to rely upon previous ways of depicting ...
, but earlier
modernism Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...
and
Russian formalism Russian formalism was a school of literary theory in Russia from the 1910s to the 1930s. It includes the work of a number of highly influential Russian and Soviet scholars, such as Viktor Shklovsky, Yuri Tynianov, Vladimir Propp, Boris Eikhenbaum ...
had anticipated this perspective. For the Russian formalists, parody was a way of liberation from the background text that enables to produce new and autonomous artistic forms.Hutcheon (1985) pp.28, 35 Historian Christopher Rea writes that "In the 1910s and 1920s, writers in China's entertainment market parodied anything and everything.... They parodied speeches, advertisements, confessions, petitions, orders, handbills, notices, policies, regulations, resolutions, discourses, explications, sutras, memorials to the throne, and conference minutes. We have an exchange of letters between the Queue and the Beard and Eyebrows. We have a eulogy for a chamber pot. We have 'Research on Why Men Have Beards and Women Don't,' 'A Telegram from the Thunder God to His Mother Resigning His Post,' and 'A Public Notice from the King of Whoring Prohibiting Playboys from Skipping Debts.'"
Jorge Luis Borges Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo ( ; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator regarded as a key figure in Spanish literature, Spanish-language and international literatur ...
's (1939) short story "
Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote "Pierre Menard, Author of the ''Quixote''" (original Spanish title: "Pierre Menard, autor del ''Quijote''") is a short story by Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges. It originally appeared in Spanish in the Argentine journal '' Sur'' in May 1939 ...
", is often regarded as predicting postmodernism and conceiving the ideal of the ultimate parody.Stavans (1997
p.31
/ref> In the broader sense of Greek ''parodia'', parody can occur when whole elements of one work are lifted out of their context and reused, not necessarily to be ridiculed.Elices (2004) p.90 quotation: Traditional definitions of parody usually only discuss parody in the stricter sense of something intended to ridicule the text it parodies. There is also a broader, extended sense of parody that may not include ridicule, and may be based on many other uses and intentions.Hutcheon (1985) p.50 The broader sense of parody, parody done with intent other than ridicule, has become prevalent in the modern parody of the 20th century. In the extended sense, the modern parody does not target the parodied text, but instead uses it as a weapon to target something else.Hutcheon (1985) p.52 The reason for the prevalence of the extended, recontextualizing type of parody in the 20th century is that artists have sought to connect with the past while registering differences brought by
modernity Modernity, a topic in the humanities and social sciences, is both a historical period (the modern era) and the ensemble of particular Society, socio-Culture, cultural Norm (social), norms, attitudes and practices that arose in the wake of the ...
. Major modernist examples of this recontextualizing parody include
James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...
's ''
Ulysses Ulysses is the Latin name for Odysseus, a legendary Greek hero recognized for his intelligence and cunning. He is famous for his long, adventurous journey home to Ithaca after the Trojan War, as narrated in Homer's Odyssey. Ulysses may also refer ...
'', which incorporates elements of
Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...
's ''
Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divi ...
'' in a 20th-century Irish context, and
T. S. Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist and playwright.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Biography''. New York: Oxford University ...
's ''
The Waste Land ''The Waste Land'' is a poem by T. S. Eliot, widely regarded as one of the most important English-language poems of the 20th century and a central work of modernist poetry. Published in 1922, the 434-line poem first appeared in the United ...
'', which incorporates and recontextualizes elements of a vast range of prior texts, including
Dante Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...
's '' The Inferno''. The work of
Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...
is another prominent example of the modern "recontextualizing" parody. According to French literary theorist
Gérard Genette Gérard Genette (; 7 June 1930 – 11 May 2018) was a French literary theorist, associated in particular with the structuralist movement and with figures such as Roland Barthes and Claude Lévi-Strauss, from whom he adapted the concept of ''b ...
, the most rigorous and elegant form of parody is also the most economical, that is a ''minimal parody'', the one that literally reprises a known text and gives it a new meaning.Sangsue (2006
p.72
quotation:
Blank parody, in which an artist takes the skeletal form of an art work and places it in a new context without ridiculing it, is common.
Pastiche A pastiche () is a work of visual art, literature, theatre, music, or architecture that imitates the style or character of the work of one or more other artists. Unlike parody, pastiche pays homage to the work it imitates, rather than mocking ...
is a closely related
genre Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other fo ...
, and parody can also occur when characters or settings belonging to one work are used in a humorous or ironic way in another, such as the transformation of minor characters
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are characters in William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Hamlet''. They are childhood friends of Hamlet, summoned by King Claudius to distract the prince from his apparent madness and if possible to ascertain the cause of ...
from
Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
's drama
Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...
into the principal characters in a comedic perspective on the same events in the play (and film) ''
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead ''Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead'' is an absurdist, existential tragicomedy by Tom Stoppard, first staged at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1966. The play expands upon the exploits of two minor characters from Shakespeare's ''Hamle ...
''. Similarly,
Mishu Hilmy Mishu Hilmy is an American comedian, writer, actor, impressionist, and playwright. He most recently wrote, performed, and executive produced the Netflix-parody comedy special ''Trapped in the Netflix.'' He has contributed to and appeared on ''T ...
's ''Trapped in the Netflix'' uses parody to deconstruct contemporary
Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
shows like
Mad Men ''Mad Men'' is an American historical drama, period drama television series created by Matthew Weiner and produced by Lionsgate Television. It ran on cable network AMC (TV channel), AMC from July 19, 2007, to May 17, 2015, with seven seasons ...
providing commentary through popular characters. Don Draper
mansplaining ''Mansplaining'' (a blend word of ''man'' and the informal form ''splaining'' of the gerund ''explaining'') is a pejorative term meaning "(for a man) to comment on or explain something, to a woman, in a condescending, overconfident, and often ...
about mansplaining,
Luke Danes This is an extensive list of all the characters in the comedy-drama television series ''Gilmore Girls''. Cast Starring Recurring characters Notable guest appearances Main characters Lorelai Gilmore Lorelai Gilmore, portrayed ...
monologizing about a lack of independence while embracing
codependency In psychology, codependency is a theory that attempts to explain imbalanced relationships where one person enables another person's self-destructive behavior, such as addiction, poor mental health, immaturity, irresponsibility, or under-ach ...
. In
Flann O'Brien Brian O'Nolan (; 5 October 19111 April 1966), his pen name being Flann O'Brien, was an Civil Service of the Republic of Ireland, Irish civil service official, novelist, playwright and satirist, who is now considered a major figure in twentieth- ...
's novel ''
At Swim-Two-Birds ''At Swim-Two-Birds'' is a 1939 novel by Irish writer Flann O'Brien, Brian O'Nolan, writing under the pseudonym Flann O'Brien. It is widely considered to be O'Brien's masterpiece, and one of the most sophisticated examples of metafiction. The ...
'', for example, mad King Sweeney, Finn MacCool, a pookah, and an assortment of
cowboy A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the ''vaquero'' ...
s all assemble in an inn in
Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
: the mixture of mythic characters, characters from
genre Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other fo ...
fiction, and a quotidian setting combine for a humor that is not directed at any of the characters or their authors. This combination of established and identifiable characters in a new setting is not the same as the
post-modernist Postmodernism encompasses a variety of artistic, cultural, and philosophical movements that claim to mark a break from modernism. They have in common the conviction that it is no longer possible to rely upon previous ways of depicting the worl ...
trope of using historical characters in fiction out of context to provide a metaphoric element.


Reputation

Sometimes the reputation of a parody outlasts the reputation of what is being parodied. For example, ''
Don Quixote , the full title being ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'', is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts in 1605 and 1615, the novel is considered a founding work of Western literature and is of ...
'', which mocks the traditional
knight errant A knight-errant (or knight errant) is a figure of medieval Chivalric romance, chivalric romance literature. The adjective '':wikt:errant, errant'' (meaning "wandering, roving") indicates how the knight-errant would wander the land in search of adv ...
tales, is much better known than the novel that inspired it, '' Amadis de Gaula'' (although Amadis is mentioned in the book). Another case is the
novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...
''
Shamela ''An Apology for the Life of Mrs. Shamela Andrews'', or simply ''Shamela'', as it is more commonly known, is a satirical burlesque novella by English writer Henry Fielding. It was first published in April 1741 under the name of ''Mr. Conny Ke ...
'' by
Henry Fielding Henry Fielding (22 April 1707 – 8 October 1754) was an English writer and magistrate known for the use of humour and satire in his works. His 1749 comic novel ''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'' was a seminal work in the genre. Along wi ...
(1742), which was a parody of the gloomy
epistolary novel An epistolary novel () is a novel written as a series of letters between the fictional characters of a narrative. The term is often extended to cover novels that intersperse other kinds of fictional document with the letters, most commonly di ...
''
Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded ''Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded'' is an epistolary novel first published in 1740 by the English writer Samuel Richardson. Considered one of the first true English novels, it serves as Richardson's version of conduct literature about marriage. ...
'' (1740) by
Samuel Richardson Samuel Richardson (baptised 19 August 1689 – 4 July 1761) was an English writer and printer known for three epistolary novels: '' Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded'' (1740), '' Clarissa: Or the History of a Young Lady'' (1748) and '' The Histo ...
. Many of
Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet, mathematician, photographer and reluctant Anglicanism, Anglican deacon. His most notable works are ''Alice ...
's parodies of Victorian didactic verse for children, such as "
You Are Old, Father William "You Are Old, Father William" is a poem by Lewis Carroll that appears in his 1865 book ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''. It is recited by Alice in Chapter 5, " Advice from a Caterpillar" (Chapter 3 in the original manuscript). Alice informs t ...
", are much better known than the (largely forgotten) originals.
Stella Gibbons Stella Dorothea Gibbons (5 January 1902 – 19 December 1989) was an English author, journalist, and poet. She established her reputation with her first novel, '' Cold Comfort Farm'' (1932), which has been reprinted many times. Although sh ...
's comic novel ''
Cold Comfort Farm ''Cold Comfort Farm'' is a comic novel by English author Stella Gibbons, published in 1932. It parodies the romanticised, sometimes doom-laden accounts of rural life popular at the time, by writers such as Mary Webb. The novel was awarded the ...
'' has eclipsed the pastoral novels of
Mary Webb Mary Gladys Webb (25 March 1881 – 8 October 1927) was an English romance novelist and poet of the early 20th century, whose work is set chiefly in the Shropshire countryside and among Shropshire characters and people whom she knew. Her ...
which largely inspired it. In more recent times, the television sitcom ''
'Allo 'Allo! ''Allo 'Allo!'' is a British sitcom television series, created by David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd, starring Gorden Kaye, Carmen Silvera, Guy Siner and Richard Gibson. Originally broadcast on BBC1, the series focuses on the life of a Frenc ...
'' is perhaps better known than the drama '' Secret Army'' which it parodies. Some artists carve out careers by making parodies. One of the best-known examples is that of
"Weird Al" Yankovic Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American comedy musician, writer, and actor. He is best known for writing and performing Comedy music, comedy songs that often Parody music, parody specific songs by contempo ...
. His career of parodying other musical acts and their songs has outlasted many of the artists or bands he has parodied. Yankovic is not required under law to get permission to parody; as a personal rule, however, he does seek permission to parody a person's song before recording it. Several artists, such as rapper
Chamillionaire Hakeem Temidayo Seriki (born November 28, 1979), better known by his stage name Chamillionaire (), is an American rapper. He began his career in Houston's hip hop scene in the late 1990s. He was briefly signed with the local record label Swishah ...
and Seattle-based
grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock Music genre, genre and subculture that emerged during the in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, particularly in Seattle and Music of Olympia, Washington, O ...
band
Nirvana Nirvana, in the Indian religions (Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism), is the concept of an individual's passions being extinguished as the ultimate state of salvation, release, or liberation from suffering ('' duḥkha'') and from the ...
stated that Yankovic's parodies of their respective songs were excellent, and many artists have considered being parodied by him to be a badge of honor. In the US legal system the point that in most cases a parody of a work constitutes fair use was upheld in the case of
Rick Dees Rigdon Osmond Dees III (born March 14, 1950), best known as Rick Dees, is an American entertainer, radio personality, comedian, actor, and voice artist, best known for his internationally syndicated radio show '' The Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 Coun ...
, who decided to use 29 seconds of the music from the song ''When Sonny Gets Blue'' to parody
Johnny Mathis John Royce Mathis (born September 30, 1935) is an American singer. Starting his 69-year career with singles of standard (music), standard music, Mathis is one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century and became highly popular as ...
' singing style even after being refused permission. An appeals court upheld the trial court's decision that this type of parody represents fair use. ''
Fisher v. Dees ''Fisher v. Dees'' was a 1986 case of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit whose judgement refined the doctrine of fair use in American copyright law. History and impact In 1984, Rick Dees, a disc jockey, sought and was ref ...
'' 794 F.2d 432 (9th Cir. 1986)


Film parodies

Some genre theorists, following
Bakhtin Bakhtin (Russian: Бахтин) is a Russian masculine surname originating from the obsolete verb ''bakhtet'' (бахтеть), meaning ''to swagger''; its feminine counterpart is Bakhtina. The surname may refer to the following notable people: * Al ...
, see parody as a natural development in the life cycle of any
genre Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other fo ...
; this idea has proven especially fruitful for genre film theorists. Such theorists note that
Western movie The Western is a film genre defined by the American Film Institute as films which are "set in the American West that mbodythe spirit, the struggle, and the demise of the new frontier." Generally set in the American frontier between the Californi ...
s, for example, after the classic stage defined the conventions of the genre, underwent a parody stage, in which those same conventions were ridiculed and critiqued. Because audiences had seen these classic Westerns, they had expectations for any new Westerns, and when these expectations were inverted, the audience laughed. An early parody film was the 1922 movie ''
Mud and Sand ''Mud and Sand'' is a 1922 silent film starring Stan Laurel. The title spoofs the Rudolph Valentino film '' Blood and Sand'' from that same year, and many scenes directly parody the film: Dona Sol is replaced by Filet de Sole, and Carmen is re ...
'', a
Stan Laurel Stan Laurel ( ; born Arthur Stanley Jefferson; 16 June 1890 – 23 February 1965) was an English comic actor, director and writer who was in the comedy double act, duo Laurel and Hardy. He appeared with his comedy partner Oliver Hardy in 107 sh ...
film that made fun of
Rudolph Valentino Rodolfo Pietro Filiberto Raffaello Guglielmi di Valentina d'Antonguella (May 6, 1895 – August 23, 1926), known professionally as Rudolph Valentino and nicknamed The Latin Lover, was an Italian actor who starred in several well-known sile ...
's film '' Blood and Sand''. Laurel specialized in parodies in the mid-1920s, writing and acting in a number of them. Some were send-ups of popular films, such as —parodied in the comic ''
Dr. Pyckle and Mr. Pryde ''Dr. Pyckle and Mr. Pryde'' (or ''Dr. Pyckle and Mr. Pride'') is a 1925 American silent, black-and-white comedy horror film, directed by Scott Pembroke and Joe Rock (also the producer). The film itself is both a spoof of the previous Dr. ...
'' (1926). Others were spoofs of Broadway plays, such as ''
No, No, Nanette ''No, No, Nanette'' is a musical with a book by Otto Harbach and Frank Mandel based on Mandel's 1919 Broadway play ''My Lady Friends''; lyrics by Irving Caesar and Harbach; and music by Vincent Youmans. The farcical story centers on three coup ...
'' (1925), parodied as ''
Yes, Yes, Nanette ''Yes, Yes, Nanette'' is a 1925 American silent film comedy starring Lyle Tayo and James Finlayson. It also features Oliver Hardy and was co-directed by Stan Laurel. ''Yes, Yes, Nanette'' is a parody of the contemporary musical comedy '' No ...
'' (1925). In 1940
Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is considered o ...
created a satirical comedy about
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
with the film ''
The Great Dictator ''The Great Dictator'' is a 1940 American political satire black comedy film written, directed, produced by, and starring Charlie Chaplin. Having been the only Hollywood filmmaker to continue to make silent films well into the period of sound f ...
'', following the first-ever Hollywood parody of the Nazis, the
Three Stooges The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy team active from 1922 until 1970, best remembered for their 190 short-subject films by Columbia Pictures. Their hallmark styles were physical, farce, and slapstick comedy. Six total ...
' short subject ''
You Nazty Spy! ''You Nazty Spy!'' is a 1940 comedy film directed by Jules White and starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges ( Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Curly Howard). It is the 44th short film released by Columbia Pictures starring the c ...
''. About 20 years later
Mel Brooks Melvin James Brooks (né Kaminsky; born June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian, filmmaker, and songwriter. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodie ...
started his career with a Hitler parody as well. After his 1967 film '' The Producers'' won both an
Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
and a
Writers Guild of America Award The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949. Eligibility Th ...
for Best Original Screenplay, Brooks became one of the most famous film parodists and created spoofs in multiple film genres. ''
Blazing Saddles ''Blazing Saddles'' is a 1974 American satirical postmodernist Western black comedy film directed by Mel Brooks, who co-wrote the screenplay with Andrew Bergman, Richard Pryor, Norman Steinberg and Alan Uger, based on a story treatment by Be ...
'' (1974) is a parody of western films, ''
History of the World, Part I ''History of the World, Part I'' is a 1981 American comedy film written, produced, and directed by Mel Brooks. Brooks also stars in the film, playing five roles: Moses, Comicus the stand-up philosopher, Tomás de Torquemada, King Louis XVI, ...
'' (1981) is a historical parody, '' Robin Hood Men in Tights'' (1993) is Brooks' take on the classic Robin Hood tale, and his spoofs in the horror, sci-fi and adventure genres include ''
Young Frankenstein ''Young Frankenstein'' is a 1974 American comedy horror film directed by Mel Brooks. The screenplay was co-written by Brooks and Gene Wilder. Wilder also starred in the lead role as the title character, a descendant of the infamous Victor Fra ...
'' (1974), and ''
Spaceballs ''Spaceballs'' is a 1987 American space opera parody film co-written, produced and directed by Mel Brooks. It primarily parodies the original ''Star Wars'' trilogy, but also other popular franchises such as ''Star Trek'', '' Alien'', '' The Wi ...
'' (1987, a ''
Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...
'' spoof). The British comedy group
Monty Python Monty Python, also known as the Pythons, were a British comedy troupe formed in 1969 consisting of Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin. The group came to prominence for the sketch comedy ser ...
is also famous for its parodies, for example, the
King Arthur According to legends, King Arthur (; ; ; ) was a king of Great Britain, Britain. He is a folk hero and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In Wales, Welsh sources, Arthur is portrayed as a le ...
spoof ''
Monty Python and the Holy Grail ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail'' is a 1975 British comedy film based on the Arthurian legend, written and performed by the Monty Python comedy group (Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin) and ...
'' (1974), and the religious satire ''
Life of Brian ''Monty Python's Life of Brian'' (also known as ''Life of Brian'') is a 1979 British biblical black comedy film starring and written by the comedy group Monty Python (Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michae ...
'' (1979). In the 1980s the team of
David Zucker David Samuel Zucker (born October 16, 1947) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Associated mostly with parody comedies, Zucker is recognized for collaborating with Jim Abrahams and his brother Jerry as part of Zucker, Ab ...
,
Jim Abrahams James Steven Abrahams (May 10, 1944 – November 26, 2024) was an American film director and writer, best known as a member of Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker. Life and career James Steven Abrahams was born on May 10, 1944, to a Jewish family in ...
and
Jerry Zucker Jerry Gordon Zucker (born March 11, 1950) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is one third of the filmmaking trio Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker. He is best known for his role in writing and directing comedy spoof films like ...
parodied well-established genres such as disaster, war and police movies with the ''
Airplane! ''Airplane!'' (alternatively titled ''Flying High!'') is a 1980 American disaster film, disaster comedy film written and directed by Jim Abrahams and brothers David Zucker, David and Jerry Zucker in their List of directorial debuts, directoria ...
'', ''
Hot Shots! ''Hot Shots!'' is a 1991 American comedy film directed by Jim Abrahams, co-writer and co-director of ''Airplane!'', and written by Abrahams and Pat Proft. It stars Charlie Sheen, Cary Elwes, Valeria Golino, Lloyd Bridges, Jon Cryer, Kevin ...
'' and '' Naked Gun'' series respectively. There is a 1989 film parody from Spain of the TV series ''
The A-Team ''The A-Team'' is an American Action television, action television series that ran on NBC from January 23, 1983, to March 8, 1987, about a fictional team of former United States Army Special Forces who work as mercenaries while on the run from ...
'' called ' directed by José Truchado. More recently, parodies have taken on whole film genres at once. One of the first was ''
Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood #REDIRECT Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood {{R from other capitalisation ...
'' and the ''
Scary Movie ''Scary Movie'' is a 2000 American parody film directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans and written by Marlon Wayans, Marlon and Shawn Wayans (who both also star), alongside Buddy Johnson, Phil Beauman, Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer. Starring Jon ...
'' franchise. Other recent genre parodies include. ''
Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday The 13th ''Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the 13th'' is a 2000 American direct-to-video parody slasher film directed by John Blanchard. The film stars Tiffani-Amber Thiessen, Tom Arnold, Coolio and Shirley Jones. Several mid- and late 1990 ...
'', ''
Not Another Teen Movie ''Not Another Teen Movie'' is a 2001 American teen parody film directed by Joel Gallen and written by Mike Bender, Adam Jay Epstein, Andrew Jacobson, Phil Beauman, and Buddy Johnson. It features Chyler Leigh, Chris Evans, Jaime Pressly, Er ...
'', ''
Date Movie ''Date Movie'' is a 2006 American romantic comedy parody film written by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer, directed by Seltzer, and produced by Paul Schiff and Friedberg. It stars Alyson Hannigan, Adam Campbell, Sophie Monk, Tony Cox, Jen ...
'', ''
Epic Movie ''Epic Movie'' is a 2007 American parody film written and directed by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer and produced by Paul Schiff. It was released on January 26, 2007 and stars Kal Penn, Adam Campbell, Jayma Mays, Jennifer Coolidge, Faun ...
'', ''
Meet the Spartans ''Meet the Spartans'' is a 2008 American parody film written and directed by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer. The film is mainly a parody of the 2006 film ''300'', although it also references many other films, TV shows, people and pop cultural ...
'', ''
Superhero Movie ''Superhero Movie'' is a 2008 American superhero parody film written and directed by Craig Mazin, produced by Robert K. Weiss and David Zucker, and starring Drake Bell, Sara Paxton, Christopher McDonald, Kevin Hart, Brent Spiner, Jeffrey Ta ...
'', ''
Disaster Movie ''Disaster Movie'' is a 2008 American parody film written and directed by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer and produced by Peter Safran, Friedberg, and Seltzer. It stars Matt Lanter, Vanessa Minnillo, Gary "G Thang" Johnson, Crista Flanaga ...
'', ''
Vampires Suck ''Vampires Suck'' is a 2010 American parody film written and directed by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer. It stars Jenn Proske, Matt Lanter, Christopher N. Riggi, Ken Jeong, Anneliese van der Pol, and Arielle Kebbel. The film is a parody ...
'', and ''
The 41-Year-Old Virgin Who Knocked Up Sarah Marshall and Felt Superbad About It ''The 41-Year-Old Virgin Who Knocked Up Sarah Marshall and Felt Superbad About It'' is a 2010 American parody film that spoofs several of Judd Apatow's films: ''The 40-Year-Old Virgin'', ''Knocked Up'', '' Superbad'', and '' Forgetting Sarah Mar ...
'', all of which have been critically panned.


Copyright

Many parody films have as their target out-of-copyright or non-copyrighted subjects (such as ''Frankenstein'' or Robin Hood) whilst others settle for imitation which does not infringe copyright, but is clearly aimed at a popular (and usually lucrative) subject. The spy film craze of the 1960s, fuelled by the popularity of
James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...
is such an example. In this genre a rare, and possibly unique, example of a parody film taking aim at a non-comedic subject over which it actually holds copyright is the 1967 James Bond spoof '' Casino Royale''. In this case, producer Charles K. Feldman initially intended to make a serious film, but decided that it would not be able to compete with the established series of Bond films. Hence, he decided to parody the series.


Poetic parodies

Kenneth Baker considered poetic parody to take five main forms. # The first was to use parody to attack the author parodied, as in
J K Stephen James Kenneth Stephen (25 February 1859 – 3 February 1892) was an English poet, and tutor to Prince Albert Victor, eldest son of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (later Edward VII). Early life James Kenneth Stephen was the second son of ...
's mimicry of
Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication '' Lyrical Ballads'' (1798). Wordsworth's ...
, "Two voices are there: one is of the deep....And one is of an old half-witted sheep." # The second was to pastiche the author's style, as with Henry Reed's parody of
T. S. Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist and playwright.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Biography''. New York: Oxford University ...
, ''Chard Whitlow'': "As we get older we do not get any younger...." # The third type reversed (and so undercut) the sentiments of the poem parodied, as with
Monty Python Monty Python, also known as the Pythons, were a British comedy troupe formed in 1969 consisting of Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin. The group came to prominence for the sketch comedy ser ...
's ''All Things Dull and Ugly''. # A fourth approach was to use the target poem as a matrix for inserting unrelated (generally humorous) material – "To have it out or not? That is the question....Thus dentists do make cowards of us all." # Finally, parody may be used to attack contemporary/topical targets by utilizing the format of a well-known piece of verse: "O Rushdie, Rushdie, it's a vile world" (
Cat Stevens Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou; ), commonly known by his stage names Cat Stevens, Yusuf, and Yusuf / Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter and musician. He has sold more than 100 million records and has more than two billion st ...
). A further, more constructive form of poetic parody is one that links the contemporary poet with past forms and past masters through affectionate parodying – thus sharing poetic codes while avoiding some of the
anxiety of influence Anxiety of Influence is a concept in literary criticism articulated by Harold Bloom in 1973, in his book, '' The Anxiety of Influence: A Theory of Poetry''. It refers to the psychological struggle of aspiring authors to overcome the anxiety posed by ...
. More aggressive in tone are playground poetry parodies, often attacking authority, values and culture itself in a carnivalesque rebellion: "Twinkle, Twinkle little star,/ Who the hell do you think you are?"


Self-parody

A subset of parody is ''
self-parody A self-parody is a parody of oneself or one's own work. As an artist accomplishes it by imitating their own characteristics, a self-parody is potentially difficult to distinguish from especially characteristic productions. Self-parody may be us ...
'' in which artists parody their own work (as in
Ricky Gervais Ricky Dene Gervais ( ; born 25 June 1961) is an English comedian, actor, writer, television producer and filmmaker. He co-created, co-wrote, and acted in the British television sitcoms ''The Office (British TV series), The Office'' (2001–2003) ...
's '' Extras'').


Copyright issues and other legal issues

Although a parody can be considered a
derivative work In copyright law, a derivative work is an expressive creation that includes major copyrightable elements of a first, previously created original work (the underlying work). The derivative work becomes a second, separate work independent from ...
of a pre-existing, copyrighted work, some countries have ruled that parodies can fall under copyright limitations such as
fair dealing Fair dealing is a limitation and exception to the exclusive rights granted by copyright law to the author of a creative work. Fair dealing is found in many of the common law jurisdictions of the Commonwealth of Nations. Fair dealing is an e ...
, or otherwise have fair dealing laws that include parody in their scope.


United States

Parodies are protected under the fair use doctrine of United States copyright law, but the defense is more successful if the usage of an existing copyrighted work is transformative in nature, such as being a critique or commentary upon it. In ''Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc.'', the Supreme Court of the United States, Supreme Court ruled that a rap parody of "Oh, Pretty Woman" by 2 Live Crew was fair use, as the parody was a distinctive, transformative work designed to ridicule the original song, and that "even if 2 Live Crew's copying of the original's first line of lyrics and characteristic opening bass riff may be said to go to the original's 'heart,' that heart is what most readily conjures up the song for parody, and it is the heart at which parody takes aim." In 2001, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, in ''Suntrust v. Houghton Mifflin'', upheld the right of Alice Randall to publish a parody of ''Gone with the Wind (novel), Gone with the Wind'' called ''The Wind Done Gone'', which told the same story from the point of view of Scarlett O'Hara's slaves, who were glad to be rid of her. In 2007, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied a fair use defense in the ''Dr. Seuss Enters., L.P. v. Penguin Books USA, Inc., Dr. Seuss Enterprises v. Penguin Books'' case. Citing the ''Campbell v. Acuff-Rose'' decision, they found that a
satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of exposin ...
of the O. J. Simpson murder case, O.J. Simpson murder trial and parody of ''The Cat in the Hat'' had infringed upon the children's book because it did not provide a commentary function upon that work.


Canada

Under Canadian law, although there is protection for fair dealing#Canada, Fair Dealing, there is no explicit protection for parody and satire. In ''Canwest v. Horizon'', the publisher of the Vancouver Sun launched a lawsuit against a group which had published a pro-State of Palestine, Palestinian parody of the paper. Alan Donaldson, the judge in the case, court ruling, ruled that parody is not a legal defence, defence to a Canadian copyright law, copyright claim. As of the implementation of the Copyright Modernization Act 2012, "Fair dealing for the purpose of research, private study, education, parody or satire does not infringe copyright."


United Kingdom

In 2006 the ''Gowers Review of Intellectual Property'' recommended that the UK should "create an exception to copyright for the purpose of caricature, parody or pastiche by 2008". Following the first stage of a two-part public consultation, the Intellectual Property Office reported that the information received "was not sufficient to persuade us that the advantages of a new parody exception were sufficient to override the disadvantages to the creators and owners of the underlying work. There is therefore no proposal to change the current approach to parody, caricature and pastiche in the UK."UK Intellectual Property Office. (2009) Taking Forward the Gowers Review of Intellectual Property: Second Stage Consultation on Copyright Exceptions. [Online]. Available a
ipo.gov.uk
(Accessed: 22 February 2011).
However, following the Hargreaves Review in May 2011 (which made similar proposals to the Gowers Review) the Government broadly accepted these proposals. The current law (effective from 1 October 2014), namely Section 30A of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, now provides an exception to infringement where there is fair dealing of the original work for the purpose of parody (or alternatively for the purpose of caricature or pastiche). The legislation does not define what is meant by "parody", but the UK IPO – the Intellectual Property Office (United Kingdom) – suggests that a "parody" is something that imitates a work for humorous or satirical effect. See also Fair dealing in United Kingdom law.


Jail

Some countries do not like parodies and the parodies can be considered insulting. The person who makes the parody can be fined or even jailed. For instance in the UAE and North Korea, this is not allowed.


Internet culture

Parody is a prominent genre in online culture, thanks in part to the ease with which digital texts may be altered, appropriated, and shared. Japanese kuso and Chinese e'gao are emblematic of the importance of parody in online cultures in Asia. Video mash-ups and other parodic Meme, memes, such as humorously altered Chinese characters, have been particularly popular as a tool for political protest in the People's Republic of China, the government of which maintains an extensive censorship apparatus. Chinese internet slang makes extensive use of puns and parodies on how Chinese characters are pronounced or written, as illustrated in th
Grass-Mud Horse Lexicon


Computer-generated parodies


Social and political uses

Parody is often used to make a social or political statement. Examples include Jonathan Swift, Swift's "A Modest Proposal", which satirized English neglect of Ireland by parodying emotionally disengaged political tracts; and, recently, ''The Daily Show, The Larry Sanders Show'' and ''The Colbert Report'', which parody a news broadcast and a talk show to satirize political and social trends and events. On the other hand, the writer and frequent parodist Vladimir Nabokov made a distinction: "Satire is a lesson, parody is a game." Some events, such as a national tragedy, can be difficult to handle. Chet Clem, Editorial Manager of the news parody publication ''The Onion'', told ''Wikinews'' in an interview the questions that are raised when addressing difficult topics: Parody is by no means necessarily satirical, and may sometimes be done with respect and appreciation of the subject involved, without being a heedless sarcastic attack. Parody has also been used to facilitate dialogue between cultures or subcultures. Sociolinguist Mary Louise Pratt identifies parody as one of the "arts of the contact zone", through which marginalized or oppressed groups "selectively appropriate", or imitate and take over, aspects of more empowered cultures.Pratt (1991) Shakespeare often uses a series of parodies to convey his meaning. In the social context of his era, an example can be seen in ''King Lear'' where the Jester, fool is introduced with his Comb (anatomy)#Other, coxcomb to be a parody of the king.


Examples


Historic examples


Internet examples

*Punt nua, a parody currency and internet meme (2011) * "After Ever After" a capella series by YouTube personality Jon Cozart, parody of various Disney songs


Modern television examples

* Saturday Night Live parodies of Sarah Palin, ''Saturday Night Live'' parodies of Sarah Palin * Saturday Night Live parodies of Donald Trump, ''Saturday Night Live'' parodies of Donald Trump * Square One TV mathnet, parodies of ''Dragnet (franchise), Dragnet'' * ''Southpaw Regional Wrestling,'' WWE's parody of 80s territory-style professional wrestling * ''On Cinema'' and Spin-off (media), spin-off ''Decker (TV series), Decker'' parody film review shows and political cinema, political action film, action thriller films, thrillers, respectively. * "Handyman Corner" and "Handyman Tip" segments on ''The Red Green Show'' by Steve Smith (comedian), Steve Smith and Rick Green (comedian), Rick Green, parodying home improvement and do-it-yourself shows * The "Get the Belt" sketch on ''A Black Lady Sketch Show'' parodies the genre of dance movies like ''Step Up (franchise), Step Up'' and ''Save the Last Dance''.


Anime and manga

* ''Attack on Titan: Junior High'' * ''KonoSuba'' * ''One Punch Man'' * ''Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt''


See also

* Abridgement * Anti-Barney Humor * Détournement * Drawn Together * Internet meme * Intertextuality * Joke * Literary technique * Metaparody * Parody advertisement * Parody in popular music * Parody film * Parody music * Parody religion * Parody science * :wikt:persiflage, Persiflage * P. D. Q. Bach *Satire * Subvertising * Tom Lehrer *
"Weird Al" Yankovic Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American comedy musician, writer, and actor. He is best known for writing and performing Comedy music, comedy songs that often Parody music, parody specific songs by contempo ...


Notes


References

* *Elices Agudo, Juan Francisco (2004
''Historical and theoretical approaches to English satire''
* * . From Ways of Reading, 5th edition, ed. David Bartholomae and Anthony Petroksky (New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 1999 *Sangsue, Daniel (2006
''La parodia''
*Sheinberg, Esti (2000
''Irony, Satire, Parody and the Grotesque in the Music of Shostakovich''
*Stavans, Ilan and Jesse H. Lytle, Jennifer A. Mattson (1997
''Antiheroes: Mexico and its detective novel''
*Ore, Johnathan (2014


Further reading

* * * * * * * * * *


External links

{{Authority control Parodies, Satire