Pastiche as Plagiarism

Saturday in The Guardian, Michael Dibdin (Back to Bologna) reviews Gilbert Adair’s new “self-referential locked-room mystery,” The Act of Roger Murgatroyd. Dibdin asks when pastiche become plagiarism. In pastiche, no less:

“Ah, but what is plagiarism, sir? Does the concept have any meaning in our PoMobabble culture? Might it not be truer to say that pastiche and plagiarism represent the only faint, far ghosts of meaning still attainable?”

“These are interesting questions, Inspector. In my youth they kept me awake for many a starlit night up on the high veldt. For our present purposes we may however ignore them. Adair’s book is billed as an entertainment. My late wife Cynthia was wont to remark that an entertainment, like a soufflé, must rise to the occasion. This one resembles the fricassee in which poor Cynthia ended up during that spot of bother we had with the fuzzy-wuzzies back in ‘01--deconstructed ham, half-baked period detail and fallen archness served up with camp style.”

And so on. Upshot: he’s not nuts about Adair’s attempt. I think. Read Dibdin’s Guardian ... er ... review here.