A
parody (; also called
spoof,
send-up,
take-off or
lampoon), in use, is a work created to imitate, make fun of, or comment on an
original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of
satiric or
ironic imitation. As the literary theorist
Linda Hutcheon puts it, "parody … is
imitation, not always at the expense of the parodied text." Another critic, Simon Dentith, defines parody as "any cultural practice which provides a relatively
polemical allusive imitation of another cultural production or practice." Parody may be found in art or culture, including
literature,
music (although "parody" in
music has an earlier, somewhat different meaning than for other art forms),
animation,
gaming and
film.