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Parody

In contemporary usage, parody is a form of satire that imitates another work of art in order to ridicule it. Parodies exists in all art media, including literature, music and cinema.

In ancient Greek literature, a parody was a type of poem that imitated another poem's style. Indeed, the Greek roots of the word "parody" can be recognized elsewhere: "para-" in, for example, "parapsychology" and "-ody" in "ode". The original Greek meant, roughly, "mock poem".

Roman writers explained parody as an imitation of one poet by another for humorous effect. In French Neo-classical literature, "parody" was also a type of poem where one work's style is imitated by another for humorous effects.

The first usage in English of the word "parody" is in Ben Jonson, in "Every Man in His Humour." Jonson uses the term without any explanation -- suggesting that the word was already understood by some part of the audience. Eighty years later, John Dryden is the next author to use "parody" in literature (i.e. not in a dictionary). In the "Preface to the Satires," Dryden explains that parody is an imitation of one poet's style for the purposes of making light of a fault in it. Dryden's definition is therefore a departure from previous usage (as he implies satire), and Dryden adapts what was still a foreign term (parody) to apply to a recent literary subgenre that had no name: the mock-heroic.

It is vital to realize that "parody," prior to the 18th century, was an effect or ornament roughly the equivalent of a musical "quotation." (Think, for example, of Mozart imitating bird songs, on the one hand, or of Felix Mendelssohn imitating Mozart, on the other.) In "MacFlecknoe," Dryden created an entire poem designed to ridicule by parody. Dryden imitates Virgil's Aeneid, but the poem is about Thomas Shadwell, a minor dramatist. The implicit contrast between the heroic style from Virgil and the poor quality of the hero, Shadwell, makes Shadwell seem even worse. When dressed in Aeneas's clothes, Shadwell looks all the more ridiculous. Other parodies of the Restoration and early 18th century were similar to Dryden's: they employed an imitaiton of something serious and revered to ridicule a low or foolish person or habit. This is generally referred to as the mock-heroic, a genre generally credited to Samuel Butler and his poem Hudibras. When conscious, the contrast of very serious or exalted style with very frivolous or worthless subject is parody. When the combination is unconscious, it is bathos (derived from Alexander Pope's parody of Longinus, "Peri Bathos)."

Jonathan Swift is the first English author to apply the word "parody" to narrative prose, and it is perhaps because of a misunderstanding of Swift's own definition of "parody" that the term has since come to refer to any stylistic imitation that is intended to belittle. In "The Apology for the &c.," which is one of the prefaces to his A Tale of a Tub, Swift says that a parody is the imitation of an author one wishes to expose. In essence, this makes parody very little different from mockery and burlesque, and, given Swift's attention to language, it is likely that he knew this. In fact, Swift's definition of parody might well be a parody of Dryden's presumed habit of explaining the obvious or using loan words.

After Jonathan Swift, the term "parody" was used almost exclusively to refer to mockery, particularly in narrative.

In the older sense of the word, parody can occur when whole elements of one work are lifted out of their context and reused. Pastiche is a form of parody, and parody can also occur when characters or settings belonging to one work are used in a humorous way in another. In Flann O'Brien's novel At Swim-Two-Birds, for example, mad King Sweeney, Finn MacCool, a pookah, and an assortment of cowboys all assemble in an inn in Dublin: the mixture of mythic characters, characters from genre 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 habit of using historical characters in fiction out of context to provide a metaphoric element.

Some genre film theorists see parody as a natural development in the life cycle of any genre, especially in film. Westerns, for example, after the classic stage defined the conventions of the genre, underwent a parody stage, in which those same conventions were lampooned. Because audiences had seen these classic Westerns, they had expectations for any new Westerns, and when these expectations were inverted, the audience laughed.

Sometimes the reputation of a parody outlasts the reputation of what is being parodied. A notable case is the novel Joseph Andrews by Henry Fielding (1742), which was a parody of the gloomy epistolary novel Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded (1740) by Samuel Richardson. Many of Lewis Carroll's parodies, such as "You Are Old, Father William", are much better known than the originals.

A subset of parody is self-parody in which an artist or genre repeats elements of earlier works to the point that originality is lost.

Although a parody can be considered a derivative work under United States Copyright Law it can be protected under the fair use of 17 USC § 107. In 2001, the federal Court of Appeals, 11th District in Suntrust v. Houghton Mifflin upheld the right of Alice Randall to publish a parody of 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. See also the Supreme Court of the United States case Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music regarding the song Pretty Woman.

Visual Example:

See literary technique.

See also parody religion

Examples


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An OnlineNewspaper Gazette
A news parody site featuring political commentary and satire. Also contains generally silly stories.
http://www.thamus.org/News

Chattanooga Daily Bulletin
A "newspaper" offering a highly irreverant look at the world.
http://daily.chattanooga.com

Plymouth Troll Colony
A parody of the people and politics in America's Hometown - Plymouth, Massachusetts.
http://plymouthtrolls.com

NewsTurd
A parody of the very news the internet offers 24/7 - whether we want it or not. Oh, and traffic.
http://newsturd.socialreject.net

Gedantor
Miscellaneous stupid things requiring a fast connection.
http://www.gedantor.com/

Jim Day 2000
Jim Day 2000 inenerary including scheduled entertainment and festivities as well as how to contribute to the celebration.
http://www.angelfire.com/tx4/msvec/booo.html

The Framley Examiner
Framley's traditional favourite since 1978.
http://www.framleyexaminer.com

LizzieGrubman.com
This site is dedicated to Lizzie Grubman and the 16 people she mowed down outside the Conscience Point Inn night club in the Hamptons.
http://www.lizziegrubman.com

Crack Aficionado
A facetious stab at the popular cigar-smoking magazine.
http://www.crackaficionado.com/

The Brampton Bugle
Small town British newspaper parody.
http://www.brampton-bugle.co.uk/

The New News Junkie Newswire
Throwing abuse both at public figures and its readers.
http://www.geocities.com/newsjunkienewswire/

agitproperties.com
Parodies of major US news channels, government propaganda and national security hype. Requires Flash.
http://www.agitproperties.com/

Foxiest News
Topical parody news site.
http://www.foxiestnews.com/

Edward Kidd: News Stories
Spoof topical news stories and columns.
http://edwardkidd.com/news.htm

The Taunt
Just a dash of adult content in this parodical and periodical newsmag.
http://www.thetaunt.net

The Swamp Camel
A parody newsmagazine: 'news' and more that's as funny as it is fake.
http://swampcamel.netfirms.com

The Chaser
An Australian site that contains mostly world news parody/satire. Clever and funny.
http://www.chaser.com.au/default.asp?check=No

Ane Magazine
A loving parody of Jane Magazine's regular departments, including Blind Date, Beauty Central, Ane Needs Help, and It Happened to Me.
http://www.geocities.com/anemag

Bananas
British newspaper spoof, with news, articles and reviews. Updated every two months.
http://bananaweb0.tripod.com/

The Greater Moncton Cavalier
Satirical Canadian online newspaper.
http://www.angelfire.com/nb/monctoncavalier

Anorak
Parody of British tabloids and news magazines. Published weekly.
http://www.anorak.co.uk/

GupSup
Satire targetting the "new economy", business and politics.
http://www.gupsup.com/

Yeah Right!
A newszine featuring fabricated topical news content.
http://www.geocities.com/yeahrightzine/index.html

The American Weasel
Original jokes and humor parodying current news stories.
http://www.americanweasel.com/

The International Chessoid
A monthly chess tabloid featuring chess humor.
http://www.goddesschess.com/TIC/

Recoil
Parody news stories covering every conceivable topic. Like a newspaper ... only not quite. Very funny.
http://www.recoilmag.com/

TheSpoof.com
News spoof site featuring US and UK news, horoscopes, bogus celebrity weblogs, and picture caption contests.
http://www.thespoof.com/

Hardly Talked
Parody of the BBC current affairs show, Hard Talk.
http://www.zulfiqar.com/hardly.html

The New News
Left-leaning satire news for all the unwashed masses.
http://www.noapologiespress.com/newnews/

Independent Florida Sin
The annual April Fool parody of Pensacola area journalism trains its sites on a free news weekly.
http://www.pbrla.com/APRIL_04/04FlaSin1cov.html

The Catchpenny
Addresses topics such as politics, sports and entertainment. Includes a newsletter.
http://www.thecatchpenny.com

The Drudge Retort
Parody of Matt Drudge's site that puts the yellow back in journalism.
http://www.drudge.com

Consumer Report: Religion
There's something not quite right about this site...
http://fadetoblack.com/cr1.html

The Snooze
Contains bits from the Snooze sitdown comedy newsletter, a forum for people to write in about a variety of issues.
http://www.thesnooze.com/

The Sleaze
Incredible lies today - still bollocks tomorrow.
http://www.thesleaze.co.uk

Kosovopolitan
You don't have to live like a refugee.
http://www.youcrazy.com/kosovo/index.php3

The Wymsey Chronicle
A weekly newspaper that deals with the essense of English rural life.
http://www.wymsey.co.uk/wymnews2.htm

The Slackville Papers
A repository for rumors, revelations all done in tasteful colours.
http://homepages.tcp.co.uk/~civermee/tall/tallhome.htm

The Ralph
A parody newspaper.
http://members.tripod.com/The_Ralph/

Justin's Whirled Headlines
A sarcastic assault on the news of the world. Actual headlines straight off the Internet are "altered" to become more entertaining caricatures of themselves.
http://www.realwhirled.com/

The Grudge Report
Parody of "The Drudge Report".
http://www.grudgereport.com/

The Lampoonery Times
Parody columns, such as self-improvement.
http://www.lampoonery.com/times.htm

Dusty Carr: The Man & His Music
Site follows the outrageous career of the much-celebrated 'Lounge Lizard King'. With pictures and MP3s.
http://www.dustycarr.com

The Tentative
The Tentative satirises news, both real events, and spoof news stories from the UK, also including some world stories mixed in.
http://www.tentative.co.uk

Turdpolish
Satire and spoof news stories.
http://turdpolish.com

You Crazy! Online news source
A twisted take on current events and social trends. Spoofs on internet life and society in general.
http://www.youcrazy.com

The Jerry Springer Magazine
Modern Humorist parody of Oprah's O magazine.
http://www.modernhumorist.com/mh/0004/jerry/index.cfm

The Moon
A look at the world's news through the eyes of a surrealist. "The truth is not an issue compared to humour".
http://darryn-reeds.tripod.com/Moonmain.html

BAGnews
Political comedy on a brown paper bag.
http://www.BAGnews.com/

Useless.com
The self-proclaimed least reliable source of news and information on the web.
http://www.useless.com/

Theskinnyonline.com
Dropping the ball since 1978.
http://www.theskinnyonline.com/

National Indiequirer
Parody online zine on indie and alternative rock stars.
http://www.indiequirer.com

The Silly News
News that's almost believable until you read it.
http://www.eccleshill.net/silly_news

Coldbacon News Headlines
Running parody of Yahoo news headlines.
http://www.coldbacon.com/news.html

The Yellow Press
America's Most Un-respected News Source. News, Business, Sports, Horoscopes, and Free Cassified Ads. Reader participation encouraged.
http://www.yellowpress.com/



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