Pastiche

The word pastiche describes a literary or other artistic genre. The word has two competing meanings, both discussed below.

History and usage

The "hodge-podge" meaning of the word came first, appearing in English in the late 19th century. Over the course of the 20th century, pastiche shifted in its meaning, so that now it can be used by educated speakers as described in the first section above, without any necessary connotation of hodge-podge. However, some readers intuit the "hodge-podge" reading to be the dominant or even the only meaning. The variation almost certainly results from the fact that the word is fairly rare — most readers acquire their sense of the word from just a few examples. The word is routinely used by advocates of modern architectural styles to disparage new architecture with reflects traditional styles, the mere invocation of the word often being considered sufficient to condemn a design as unworthy of further consideration. In light of the ongoing semantic drift, it would seem that writers should use the word with caution.

Related Topics:
English - 19th century - 20th century - Semantic drift

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