bricolage and pastiche

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is there a difference , good examples of each ?

― anthony, Wednesday, 27 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I think they're quite distinct concepts, Anthony. Bricolage is the practice of assembling disparate fragments into a new construction (good example = Kurt Schwitters). Pastiche is an exercise in reproducing the style of another work (good example = the individual 69 Love Songs). Maybe the two concepts overlap if you consider the 69LS as a whole.

― Edna Welthorpe, Mrs, Wednesday, 27 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Apparently there is also a sense of pastiche meaning an incongruous hodgepodge of elements, derived from pasticium, the old Latin for dough, but I have never come across this meaning before.

I guess in this case the distinction would be that bricolage is based around that which is 'close to hand' - in the sense of 'cobbled together'.

In woolly postmodern theory, 'pastiche' is a bad thing (to do with corporate history and blank irony and Freddie Jameson) while 'bricolage' is a good thing (to do with improvisatory 'making do', montage and Walter Benjamin).

There is DIY shop in France called Mr Bricolage which the Pinefox used to have a photo of in his kitchen in Woolwich.

― Stevie T, Wednesday, 27 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

If I remember rightly, Claude Levi-Strauss also uses the term bricolage to describe the way that myths/oral narratives/stories patch together (and make 'sense' of) diverse bits of accumulated memory/history/culture/folklore/belief etc.

― Andrew L, Wednesday, 27 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Mr Bricolage! Saw this in France this summer and carful of artists and curators laughed.

― suzy, Wednesday, 27 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Why is it so funny? Just cos someone has nicked the French word for DIY for altogether ponsier purposes. I dunno.

― Emma, Wednesday, 27 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Well, I guess we didn't imagine les frenchies would do that DIY thing.

― suzy, Wednesday, 27 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Pourquoi pas?

― Emma, Wednesday, 27 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Was it really called Mr. Bricolage? I thought our valued Frnch chums used "M." as an abbrev. of monsieur? Was it M. Bricolage or were they doing something clever? Or did the Mr. stand for something else entirely?

― Tim, Wednesday, 27 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Or am I just wrong?

― Tim, Wednesday, 27 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Only Brutish people do DIY, dontcha know?

― RickyT, Wednesday, 27 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Tim, I just googled it and it is indeed Mr Bricolage. Perhaps this is why people find it so amusing, the quite hilarious juxtaposition between Mr - English - and Bricolage - French. Hilarious!

― Emma, Wednesday, 27 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

"do it yourself" isn't in harrap's new shorter QED

― mark s, Wednesday, 27 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Oh yes. I wonder if DIY is associated with the English even in France and so they used "Mr."? Like if I called a restaurant Monsieur PieAndMashWivLikker to denote a classy French touch to raw London edge cookery?

Still not convinced I'm right about M = monsieur and Mr = Mister. Brain fade, bah.

― Tim, Wednesday, 27 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

No, you are right that Monsieur = M.

― N., Wednesday, 27 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

At the risk of crushing a slender red admiral of a gag beneath the awesome wheels of my explication steamroller, Emma, the humour is that, if you are a Theory Victim, then you only know 'bricolage' via various interminable cultural studies essays. Seeing a shop entitled Mr Bricolage brings to mind an emporium of off-the-shelf dissertations on the revolutionary subcultural potential of using the cheesegrater to wedge the kitchen door open, staffed by cute little frenchmen wearing semiotext(e) pour homme dungarees. DO YOU SEE?

― Edna Welthorpe, Mrs, Wednesday, 27 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Surely cute little ENGLISHMEN? Aaargh!

― Tim, Wednesday, 27 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Ahahahahahahaha. Luckily for me I am not a Theory Victim but a Language Student (well, an ex one) and also a down to earth lass who sees the word bricolage and thinks DIY.

― Emma, Wednesday, 27 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

French for dungarees = salopette, inference => they wear dungarees = they are sluts mired in filth

― mark s, Wednesday, 27 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

This is news?

― N., Wednesday, 27 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

no but it's a better name for edna's shop

― mark s, Wednesday, 27 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Mr Bricolage and the Sluts Mired in Filth.

Didn't Dr. C once play keyboards for them?

― N., Wednesday, 27 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

sluts mired in filth = Shropshire girls?

― David, Wednesday, 27 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

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