Wednesday, September 17, 2008

the "parody" misnomer

According to dictionary.com, the definition of "parody" is as follows:

1. a humorous or satirical imitation of a serious piece of literature or writing: his hilarious parody of Hamlet's soliloquy.
2. the genre of literary composition represented by such imitations.
3. a burlesque imitation of a musical composition.
4. any humorous, satirical, or burlesque imitation, as of a person, event, etc.
5. the use in the 16th century of borrowed material in a musical setting of the Mass (parody Mass).
6. a poor or feeble imitation or semblance; travesty: His acting is a parody of his past greatness.
–verb (used with object)
7. to imitate (a composition, author, etc.) for purposes of ridicule or satire.
8. to imitate poorly or feebly; travesty.



I believe that any RP site that has a "parody and fan fiction" (or any number of permutations that make the same point) forum would be more accurately named "fan fiction and derived works".

But that's just me.

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