Homage (/ˈhɒmɪdʒ/or/ˈɒmɪdʒ/) is a show or demonstration of respect or dedication to someone or something, sometimes by simple declaration but often by some more oblique reference, artistic or poetic.[1] The term is often used in the arts, where one author or artist shows respect to another by allusion or imitation; this is often spelled like and pronounced similar to the original French hommage (/oʊˈmɑːʒ/).[2]
It was originally a declaration of fealty in the feudal system – swearing that one was the man (French: homme), or subordinate, of the feudal lord.[3] The concept then became used figuratively for an acknowledgement of quality or superiority. For example, a man might give homage to a lady, so honouring her beauty and other graces. In German scholarship, followers of a great scholar developed the custom of honouring their mentor by producing papers for a festschrift dedicated to him.[4]
In music, homage can take the form of a composition (Homage to Paderewski), a tribute album (Homage to Charles Parker) or a sample.[5] Digital techniques used to generate many forms of media make it easy to borrow from other works, and this remediation may be used in homage to them.[6]
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