Postmoderism - pastiche

Pastiche is a term used in the description of some postmodern art. It can be thought of as the borrowing or plagiarism of ideas and aesthetics in the use of contemporary works. The widespread adoption of "bullet-time" in movies after The Matrix would be an example. One interesting work I have come across that exemplifies this is a narrative called Sailor Nothing, by Stefan Gagne.

 

The story itself is a somewhat dark and paranormal work, but it is one that can not be fully appreciated without an understanding of where the story draws influence from. Sailor Nothing borrows narrative elements and premise from Sailor Moon, a popular anime from the early Nineties. The author acknowledges the existence of Sailor Moon on his website, but largely to clarify that he is not making a piece of fanfiction for the original series. Whereas the premise of Sailor Moon is used for the background of his work, he uses his own characters and setting to create a more serious and dark story.

The borrowing of the premise is very much in line with the idea of pastiche, and the influence is not directly credited in the work.