Pomo Techniques

Question 1

What are the different post-modern techniques?

Answer 1

• intertextuality
• allusion
• parody
• pastiche
  -meta-theatre, meta-text or meta-fiction
• irreverence
• anti-genre/supermarket of styles

Question 2

What is intertextuality?

Answer 2

• the borrowing of other well-known texts that are used, adapted, layered and reimagined for a different purpose

Question 3

What are the characteristics associated with intertextuality?

Answer 3

• disrupted, deconstructed, self-conscious, playful, irreverent

Question 4

How is intertextuality used as a Pomo technique?

Answer 4

• different texts, images and media forms are pasted together to create one piece

Question 5

What is allusion?

Answer 5

• a figure of speech, in which and object or circumstance from unrelated context is referred to covertly or indirectly
• it is left to the audience to make the direct connection

Question 6

What is another term for a parody?

Answer 6

• also called a spoof, a send-up, a take-off, a play on, a caricature or a joke

Question 7

What is a parody?

Answer 7

• a work which is created to imitate, make fun of or comment on an original work - the author, style or some other target - by means of satiric or ironic imitation

Question 8

What is the difference between parody and satire?

Answer 8

• parody is for entertainment
• satire mocks or ridicules something to make a political or social statement

Question 9

What is pastiche?

Answer 9

• the technique of combining different genres and elements to create a unique narrative or to comment on situations in a postmodern society

Question 10

What does the playwright combine when ‘pastiche-ing’?

Answer 10

• borrow from other works
• make reference to other plays
• layer different texts and images together in one play
• may include elements from different genres and styles
• references to pop-songs, pop-culture, well-known contemporary figures, historically accurate figures used out of context

Question 11

What can pastiche be seen as?

Answer 11

• a representation of the chaotic, information-drenched aspects of postmodern society

Question 12

What function does pastiche have?

Answer 12

• the function of bringing humour and irony to a work because of the familiar contexts of well known words, lines and images

Question 13

How is pastiche different from satire and parody?

Answer 13

• it praises and does not mock

Question 14

What is meta-theatre?

Answer 14

• when the artwork reflects on itself

Question 15

What does the playwright do through meta-theatre?

Answer 15

• playwright calls attention to the fact that this is a play we are watching

Question 16

What may an actor do in meta-theatre?

Answer 16

• actor might suddenly break out of character to show us that they are just playing a role

Question 17

What is meta-theatre an extension of?

Answer 17

• meta-theatre is an extension of the Brechtian Verfremdungseffekt

Question 18

What is irreverence?

Answer 18

• a lack of respect for people or things that are generally taken seriously

Question 19

How does pomo create a sense of irreverence?

Answer 19

• pomo creates a sense of fun, playfulness, irreverence and irony, by using diverse styles and genres which allow multiple meanings to co-exist at the same time

Question 20

What is anti-genre in the context of postmodernism techniques?

Answer 20

• anti-genre draws on many styles without merging them into a new form
• the different styles are easily recognised