Examines the historical development of parody in order to examine its place, purpose and practice in the postmodern world of contemporary artforms.

The utilisation of religious elements is a prominent trend in Afrikaans poetry--often in service of the political struggle, for example during the apartheid years. In this article four rewritings of the "Our Father" prayer are examined, using Linda Hutcheon's theory of parody, as discussed in (among others), her pioneering work, "A theory of parody" (2000). For Hutcheon, parody does hot necessarily imply ridiculing a previous text. According to her well-known definition, parody is "ironic transcontextualization, is repetition with difference. A critical distance is implied between the backgrounded text being parodied and the new incorporating work, a distance usually signaled by irony." The rewritings of the "Our Father" by Jan Blom (Breyten Breytenbach), Ronnie Belcher and Andre Letoit (Koos Kombuis) are distinct examples of ironic inversion, while in Hans du Plessis's poem (in Griqua Afrikaans) the irony is less obvious and the critique (if any) more subdued. As Hutcheon explains and motivates, parody does not always take place at the expense of the parodied text. Thus the parodical rewritings of the "Our Father" need not necessarily be seen as destructive and belittling of the prayer itself, but as critically constructive vis-a-vis the Christian community. Key concepts: critique of ideology Out Father prayer palimpsest parodying Opsomming Die benutting van religieuse elemente is 'n besonder opvallende tendens in die Afrikaanse poesie--dikwels in diens van politieke verset, soos tydens die apartheidsjare. In hierdie artikel (1) word vier herskrywings van die "Ons(e) Vade"-gebed ondersoek, met behulp van Linda Hutcheon se teoretisering, soos onder meer uiteengesit in haar baanbrekende "A theory of parody" (2000). Vir Hutcheon is parodie nie noodwendig 'n bespotting nie, maar 'n herhaling met 'n verskil, waarby daar 'n kritiese afstand is tussen die agtergrondteks, wat geparodieer word, en die nuwe teks. Hierdie afstand blyk dikwels uit die ironiserende aard van laasgenoemde teks. In Jan Blom (Breyten Breytenbach) se "Onse milde god van alles wat soet en mooi is", Ronnie Belcher se "Atta unsar pu in himinam" en Andre Letoit (Koos Kombuis) se "gonse vader" geskied die herhaling met 'n sterk kritiese ingesteldheid--hierdie gedigte is voorbeelde van nabootsing met ironiese inversie. Hierteenoor is die ironie minder opvallend in Hans du Plessis se herskrywing (in GriekwaAfrikaans), en die kritiek (indien enige) is meer getemper. Soos Hutcheon verduidelik en motiveer, geskied parodiering nie altyd ten koste van die geparodieerde teks nie. Die parodiering van die "Ons(e) Vader" kan daarom nie bloot as destruktief of verkleinerend ten opsigte van die gebed self beskou word nie, maar dit lewer wel kritiese, konstruktiewe kommentaar ten opsigte van die Christelike samelewing. Kernbegrippe: ideologiekritiek Ons(e) Vader-gebed palimpses parodiering I. Inleiding Bybelse verwysings en figure kom heel prominent in die Afrikaanse letterkunde voor. Gedurende die apartheidsjare is religieuse elemente dikwels in diens van die politiek benut, veral as kritiek teen die heersende bestel. In baie van hierdie tekste, soos die herskrywings van die Ons(e) Vader-gebed (Matt. 6:9-13), vind daar 'n parodiering van die bybelse gegewens plaas. Volgens teoretici soos Hutcheon (2000), (2) is parodie die kenmerkendste vorm van intertekstualiteit in die era wat algemeen as die postmoderniteit bekend staan. Berry en Wernick (1992:3) meen dat dit nie ongewoon is dat religieuse elemente in postmodernistiese tekste opduik nie. One of the most unexpected results of the changed perspective [of postmodernism] is the revived interest in those once-tabooed aspects of 'otherness' which can broadly be termed spiritual or religious. Indeed, there is an unexpected emergence of religious motifs and themes in both deconstruction and postmodernism. …

A Theory of Parody: The Teachings of Twentieth-Century Art Forms

Political Rewrittings of the Our Father Prayer in Four Afrikaans poems/Politieke Herskrywings Van Die Ons(e) Vader-Gebed in Vier Afrikaanse Gedigte

The first decade of the twenty-first century has been marked by a “revival” of the genre of the parody novel, which manifested itself in the publication of a series of books poking fun at the most famous bestsellers of the recent years. This paper examines the specific features of contemporary parody novels, considers the functions they perform in the social context of popular fiction and tries to account for the proliferation of the parody novel genre in the present historical moment described as the age of globalization.

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Literary Parody in the First Decade of the Twenty-first Century

Maria Edgeworth’s Castle Rackrent was published in 1800 and Eaton Stannard Barrett’s The Heroine in 1813, that is, after the Gothic novel had peaked in terms of its popularity during the 1790s and before those better-known parodies of Gothic fiction, Peacock’s Nightmare Abbey and Austen’s Northanger Abbey, which were published in 1818.1 Whereas The Heroine is a clear parody of the conventions of the popular Gothic novel, Castle Rackrent is perhaps a more subtle parody of the Gothic mode. Both Edgeworth and Barrett were commended by Austen, who wrote in a letter dated 2 March 1814: ‘I finished The Heroine last night and was very much amused by it … It diverted me exceedingly … I have torn through the third volume… I do not think it falls off. It is a delightful burlesque particularly on the Radcliffe style.’2 Belinda, Maria Edgeworth’s novel published in 1801, is of course linked with Fanny Burney’s Cecilia (1782) and Camilla (1796) in Austen’s Northanger Abbey as one of those works ‘in which the greatest powers of the mind are displayed, in which the most thorough knowledge of human nature, the happiest delineation of its varieties, the liveliest effusions of wit and humour are conveyed to the world in the best chosen language’.3

A Theory of Parody: The Teachings of Twentieth-Century Art Forms

Citations

Political Rewrittings of the Our Father Prayer in Four Afrikaans poems/Politieke Herskrywings Van Die Ons(e) Vader-Gebed in Vier Afrikaanse Gedigte

Literary Parody in the First Decade of the Twenty-first Century

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