The book provides the first comprehensive study of the widely used but little-studied term pastiche and its uses. Richard Dyer argues that while the term applies to works containing collage, it can also be used to describe works that deliberately imitate previous works. Using examples of Proust's classic literary pastiches and texts within texts (a play within a play in Hamlet, a show within a show in the musical Follies), the author examines the use of the term "pastiche" to describe imitations designed to be understood and recognized precisely as imitation. Next, the author analyzes the relationship of pastiche with genre, criticism and emotion and examines in detail a wide range of examples - Madame Bovary, The Nutcracker, Afro-American Symphony, spaghetti westerns (Once Upon a Time in the West), neo-noirs and the film Far From paradise." Dyer argues for the recognition of the value of pastiche as a practice that goes against some of the commonplaces of critical discourse, showing that a work can be critical without becoming a parody, and can acknowledge the history of its emotional impact, while continuing to touch our feelings. The book is addressed to art historians, cultural experts, film scholars, philosophers and everyone interested in various types of art.