Abstract
Michelle Fletcher, Associate Lecturer at the University of Kent, ambitiously argues that pastiche provides an answer to the methodological problems evident in the scholarly study of the use of prior texts in Revelation. She regularly highlights a question by Gregory Beale: “how are such combined allusions to be studied?” (pp. 25, 48, 64). Fletcher aims to “not only redeem imitation and combination as worthy practices, but also introduce readers to the richness of pastiche, and the potential it offers for Revelation scholarship” (p. 2).
Part one consists of three chapters to contextualize the study. Chapter 1 reviews previous studies of the use of the OT in Revelation with attention to Gregory Beale, Jon Paulien, Jean-Pierre Ruiz, Jan Fekkes, Steve Moyise, Alison Jack, David Mathewson, Beate Kowalski, and Marko Jauhiainen. She gives particular attention to Beale and Moyise as foundational representatives of two main camps: those who argue that attention should be given only to allusions intended by the author (Beale) and those who give more attention to the role of the reader (Moyise). She positions her study as building on Moyise's call to focus on imitative categories (pp. 27–28).
Chapter 2 considers ancient examples of imitation and combination in four diverse areas: statues, literary imitation and combination, Herod's Temple, and Second Temple Pseudepigrapha. The conclusion is that
[t]his snapshot of diverse Graeco-Roman textual practices has demonstrated how imitation, eclecticism and an ability to read multiple sources at once was very much alive and appreciated across disparate geographical locations and social groupings [p. 46].
Chapter 3 defines pastiche and discusses the methodological approach of the study. “Pastiche is a specific practice of imitation and combination that sits somewhere between original and copy, parody and homage, and collage and mosaic” (p. 48). Fletcher insists that identifying Revelation as pastiche is not just a relabeling exercise but is rather a new lens through which to re-view the interpretation of Revelation (p. 49). Pastiche is an intertextual reading practice that, because of its evaluatively open stance to other texts and its “like but not the same” character (p. 65), can be distinguished from emulation, homage, travesty, burlesque, mock epic, parody, copies, versions, genre, fakes, forgeries, and hoaxes (p. 56). “When parody is too harsh and emulation too positive, and when collage is too disparate but mosaic too harmonized, and when original is too distinct but copy too exact, then pastiche can enter in and fill the gap” (p. 65). Fletcher does not adequately indicate how homage or emulation might not be better descriptions since John's relationship to the OT as Scripture seems too positive to be accurately described by “evaluatively open.” Pastiche allows for a reading strategy focused on maximal audience engagement with no need to find a single determinative meaning or the author's intention (pp. 67, 71). Fletcher describes the methodology as “fluid and flexible” (p. 63), but its exact contours remain fuzzy throughout (that is, of course, the point).
Part two contains four chapters of case studies. Each case study discusses an example of pastiche in Revelation in light of a generically unrelated example of pastiche from film, literature, painting, or sculpture. Chapter 4 explores the inaugural vision of one like a Son of Man in Revelation 1:12–18 in comparison with Bob Knox's The New Yorker front cover (1993), a sculpture by Danish artist Bjørn Nørgaard, and Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose. Fletcher uses these examples of highly combinatory pastiche in order to help listen to all the textual voices without harmonizing or prioritizing a dominant voice. The inaugural image thus presents a “Jewish/Hellenistic/synoptic-sounding/angelic/destroyer/lover God” (p. 98).
Chapter 5 considers the description of Babylon in Revelation 17 in light of the highly imitative and composite pastiche film Once Upon a Time in the West (1968). Surprisingly, Fletcher arrives at a conclusion almost identical to Beale: the whore is a larger than life embodiment of many resonances (p. 130). Her unique suggestion that the image invites audiences to see the whore as both self and other is less convincing.
Chapter 6 discusses Revelation 18 in light of the highly imitative pastiche film Far from Heaven (2002) in order to argue that close imitation intensifies the slightest differences and that a text does not need to be entirely original; “similarity is something that can be embraced as a valid artistic practice” (p. 173).
Chapter 7 compares Revelation's role in the creation of the genre of apocalypse with the role of Neo-Noir in creating the genre of Noir films. Noir was not widely recognized as a genre until Neo-Noir exaggerated and highlighted various motifs that do not actually correspond to many Noir films. Likewise, Revelation led to a recognition of the genre “Apocalypse” by exaggerating various features even though it is not itself the best fit.
Chapter 8 concludes by reviewing the chapters, arguments, and conclusions and discussing avenues of further research. End matter includes an appendix on tabulated Apocalypse features, a bibliography, a filmography, and indexes.
It is quite possible that pastiche will become the accepted description of Revelation's use of the OT, but the apparent subjectivity and lack of concern for the author will continue to be a debated issue.