Le Pastiche

Oxford University French Postgraduate Conference
Maison Française d’Oxford, 14th January 2010
Keynote speakers: Dr Simon Kemp (Oxford), Professor Paul Aron (ULB)

Call for papers
‘Imitation can be faithful, approximate, or even simply allusive; it can take as its object an author, a specific text or literary trend, but whatever its aim or range, pastiche develops a form of writing which is inseparably mimetic and analytic’. (Paul Aron)

‘Transposition, mimicry, subversion and adulteration are a few aspects of the strategy employed by Picasso towards his favourite painters. He nourished the modern and contemporary creative modus operandi, drawing it, on occasion, towards perverse duplication, irony and pastiche’. (Picasso Exhibition, organised by the Réunion des Musées Nationaux)

‘Between Rimbaud and any pastiche of Rimbaud, there is a difference’. (Henri Thomas)

Pastiche refers to an artistic or literary practice which has been all too often eclipsed by critics. Transposition or transgression of the rules of canonical or well known works, pastiche is situated at the crossroads between imitation and invention, between plagiarism and free inspiration. A rite of passage in the training of many young painters, musicians and writers since antiquity, pastiche is equally known as deception and forgery. As a game for the literary elite or as public entertainment, pastiche is also a close relative of parody and satire. In literature, canonical writers, such as Rimbaud, Proust and Céline, all avid purveyors of pastiche, have themselves been pastiched in turn. Pastiche can also be found in popular culture, in theatre or cabaret, and in satirical sketches or TV shows, for instance. On the internet, sites devoted to ‘fanfiction’, inspired by characters from popular fiction or television series, reveal the attraction for pastiche. Pastiche is equally to be found in the musical world, in pastiche operas and DJ’s remixes. The exhibition ‘Picasso and the Masters’, organised last year by the Saison Culturelle Européene, reminds us that pastiche was also a very fashionable practice in the art world.

This conference hopes to welcome contributions from all these fields, in the domain of French and Francophone studies, and beyond.

Topics may include, but are not limited to:• Plagiarism and forgery• Deceptions and hoaxes• Collages/Montages• Reproductions and copies• Mimetic apprenticeships• Imitations and ‘in the style of’• Intertextuality, changes in register, style or genre• Quotation, allusion, echoes• Revival and variation• Parody, satire and derision• Theatrical revues• Satirical press and media

Abstracts for papers in French or English (250 words) should be sent in Word or pdf format to oxfrenchgradconf@gmail.com Please include your name, email address and university, and details of any audiovisual needs for your presentation.

Deadline for abstracts: 28th September 2009
Conference Organisers: Dominic Glynn and Claire Guérin