enfastiche

Enfastiche is a neologism used in literary and media criticism to describe a compositional strategy that deliberately blends multiple voices, styles, and intertexts within a single work. The term points to a layered texture in which diverse aesthetic registers coexist and interact, rather than a single, unified authorial voice. The exact origin of enfastiche is unclear, but it appears in contemporary critical writing discussing postmodern collage, intertextuality, and hybridity.

In practice, enfastiche involves the aggregation of varied elements such as different narrative voices, genres, and media. A text labeled as enfastiche may mix formal languages (academic, colloquial, slang), reference a wide range of genres (myth, detective fiction, science reportage), and incorporate media like images, code, or document-style layouts. The effect is to foreground the act of interpretation and to foreground the porous boundaries between distinct discourses.

Enfastiche is distinct from pastiche. While pastiche imitates or pays homage to a specific style or oeuvre, enfastiche constructs a deliberate collision of sources and voices to destabilize a single authoritative perspective and invite multiple readings. It is commonly discussed in relation to postmodern and digital-age literature, graphic storytelling, experimental poetry, and media-rich narrative forms.

Critics note that enfastiche can heighten awareness of cultural hybridity and textual mediation, but it may also risk opacity or excessive fragmentation. Its reception often centers on questions of accessibility, reader participation, and the political implications of intertextual collage.