Homage ( /ˈhɒmɨdʒ/ or /ˈɒmɨdʒ/) 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.
It was originally a declaration of fealty in the feudal system (see Homage (medieval)) - swearing that one was the man (French: homme) of the feudal lord.[1] 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.[2]
The concept now often appears in the arts where one author shows respect to a topic by calling it an homage, such as Homage to Catalonia. Alternatively, creative artists may show respect to a veteran of the field or to an admired practitioner by alluding to their work.[3] In rock music this can take the form of a tribute album or of a sample.[4] As of 2010[update] the 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.[5]
In a simple form, swearing homage or fealty exclusively to a single acknowledged superior could strengthen society on clear-cut hierarchical lines. But Bloch notes the effects of "doing homage to several lords, the true scourge of vassalage" as it developed in the 11th and 12th centuries in Europe.[6]
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