The Role of the Parrot in Selected Texts from Ovid to Jean Rhys: Telling a Story from an Alternative ViewpointJulia Courtney, Paula James This work is a compilation of a group of academics from diverse disciplines who have been working together to highlight the presence of the parrot in selected texts across the centuries. They demonstrate that fictional parrots invariably function as more than decoration, comedy, or badges denoting the eccentricity of their human owners, but as markers for subtle literary techniques. With the parrot as an interpretative tool, a range of narrative strategies and metaphorical meanings are employed and the authors argue that these strategies and meanings are embodied in the attributes of the speaking bird who figures significantly in each work. |
Contents
Two poetic and parodic parrots Paula James | 1 |
Statius and the slavish parrot | 14 |
Notes | 30 |
Copyright | |
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Common terms and phrases
African Grey parrot Amazons Amores animals Annette Antoinette Antoinette's appearance association beak become behaviour Bertha birds Boehrer breeding Brontë budgerigars cage Captain Flint captivity Catullus century Chapter characters classical cockatoo Coco Coco's colour Corinna's parrot Coulibri creature cultural death Debray Genette Domitian exotic feathers Félicité fictional Flaubert Geddes Greek Gresset human imitation interpretation italics original Jane Eyre Jean Rhys Juez Kiki language Latin literary London Long John Silver Loulou macaws male mammals Melior's metaphor mimicry mistress narrative novel nuns Open University Ovid owners parakeets Parott parrot poem perroquet phrases pieces of eight pirate poet poetic poetry Polly Psittaciformes Psittacus reader Rhys Rhys's Rochester Roudier seems Silver Skelton's social sounds sparrow speaking species speech Statius Stevenson story suggests Swallowdale Swallows and Amazons symbolic talk Thornfield Tibullus Titty translation Treasure Island Trickster Ver-Vert voice Wide Sargasso Sea wild wings words