ABSTRACT
Parody is characteristically based on elements of imitation, which it modifies by the insertion of incongruous critical and/or polemical components. Satirical parody, like satire, is based on a normative approach that points to one of its layers as the one that should be preferred, Claude Debussy satirizes Wagner's 'Tristan chord' by parodying it in 'Golliwogg's Cakewalk', from his Children's Corner. A non-satirical parody presents two or more stylistic layers without necessarily exaggerating or distorting any of them. The parody will be made apparent by the very stylistic clash that will result from its structure. Debussy's subtle sophistication is particularly apparent in this central part of the dance, since none of its expressions is unambiguously mocking. The original deep erotic signification of the aimless melody is lost, and 'The Little Shepherd' ends up as a parody of the way a child perceives a pastorale and its significance.
