A T i n y T a s t e
Bricolage
BRIK-o-LARZH
What
- There is
a lot of discussion around concerning "bricolage" and
its relationship with the term "pastiche". I'll give
you all the information I've gathered about these terms.
- Bricolage
comes from the French word "bric", which means "bits"
or pieces". (Hence, the word "bric-a-brac" which
is a collection of different terms.)
- Bricolage,
then, consists of bits and pieces. They may be:-
- Ideas,
styles or images from different cultures;
- Ideas,
styles or images from different historical periods;
- Components
created from different media (photographs, pencils, pastels,
paints, fabrics etc).
- Now, pastiche
is pretty much the same and has been defined as "any work
of art, literature or music consisting of motifs
borrowed from one or more masters or works of art".
(Macquarie Dictionary)
- Pastiche
comes from an Italian word which, again, means "bits and
pieces".
- In all of
the following examples, you would not be wrong by using the term
"pastiche instead of "bricolage".
When
- In mythology,
bricolage refers to myths and stories which are
composites of the mythology of other cultures or times. In other
words, lots of myths have bits and pieces of other stories incorporated
in them. (Call it "early intertextuality"
, if you like).
- In art, bricolage
is using different images, symbols and ideas
to create a new work. The work can be in lots of different media
or just one.
- In architecture,
a bricolage includes the different styles of building and design
that are combined. For instance, a new building may be an amalgam
(mixture or combination) of Greek and Roman styles created with
modern materials.
- A medley
of songs can be considered a bricolage, especially if it
crosses historical periods (that is songs from the 1920's, 30's,
40's, etc). They could be based around an idea, theme, instrument
or musical motif.
- Moulin
Rouge is
an example of a pastiche. It incorporates images, ideas and songs
from a range of historical periods and cultural stories.
Why
- Bricolage
occurs for lots of different reasons:-
- Maybe
there's no such thing as a new idea - we just borrow from
all the other "stuff" that's been done before and
put it together in a different way.
- Some
images are great to use in other works because the images,
themselves, already have loads of meaning attached to them.
When they're used again, they act as a kind of shorthand by
representing lots of ideas in an abbreviated form. See Allusion.
- Sometimes
bricolage is used in a parody, for humorous or satiric purposes.
That is, the text is highlighting the failings of human beings
or society. See Parody, Satire.
- Mythological
bricolage can be used to persuade people towards a new set
of beliefs by incorporating older beliefs in the new doctrine.
For instance, elements of the Christian belief incorporate
older Jewish, Greek and pagan festivals, ideas and rituals.
This assisted in the "spread" of Christianity. The
Islamic religion was similarly founded on older ideas.
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