1. English 1057 Pastiche & Bridget Jones

2. What is a parody or ‘pastiche’?
An imitation or reference to something in popular culture in history, usually humorous. Pastiche can be mocking but is often playful or even a tribute to the original.

3. A movie pastiche

4. Mashups
1. Dvorak K-Pop Mashup; 2. Wham – Careless Whisper; 3. Postmodern Jukebox – Careless Whisper; 4. Billy Idol – Rebel Yell; 5. Mashup of Billy Idol & Wham

5. Helen Fielding
Grew up in a middle-class background near Leeds, England
Worked as a researcher and journalist for the BBC, The Sunday Times, The Independent, and The Telegraph since 1979
Was asked by the Independent to write a column about single life and created Bridget as a character
Bridget Jones’s Diary published 1996

7. The novel’s plot largely follows that of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice; Fielding says “I thought that she wouldn’t mind and anyway, she’s dead”
Bridget watches the TV show of P&P and compares Mark Darcy to Mr. Darcy
The actor from the BBC TV show, Colin Firth, plays Mark Darcy in the movie
In the novel sequel, Mark Darcy (played by Colin Firth) interviews Colin Firth

8. Criticisms of the Novel
The use of P&P shows that the novel isn’t really original—true?
The tangle of references between TV-movie-P&P-characters and real people is a cheap gimmick
The novel and movie are “chick-lit” or “bonkbusters” and are disposable, low quality works
The novel does nothing to advance women’s rights if Bridget can only be happy having a man

9. Why Study Literature?
Process based education and content based education
Critical reasoning and communication skills
Cultural content
It’s fun

10. How to study literature
Critical approaches include:
Formal readings (narrative; symbolism; imagery)
Historical readings (What does the text tell us about its time or author?)
Religious, Political, Feminist, Marxist, Psychological, Eco-Green, Queer, Reader-response readings