Parrots & Magical Realism

[Robin Landseadel]

On Feb 25, 2009, at 3:17 PM, Dave Monroe wrote:

> Okay, I'm starting from the (no puns where none intended, to
> paraphrase Samuel Beckett) tail end of this conversation, but has
> anyone commented yet on parrots as emblematic of mimesis, or
> representation, of reproduction, of realism, u.s.w., et soforthiam?
> Just catching up here, is all ...

You mean, like "parroting?"

Some excerpts:


> To bifurcate and explain, parrots represent Magical Realism, like a  
> neon sign that flashes "Magical Realism" in some vibrant & exotic  
> color not usually found in nature.
>
> At the same time, it looks like parrots don't become Pynchon  
> regulars until Vineland, and their appearance always seems to  
> include some sort of sign/signifier joke. Perhaps a comment on all  
> the Pynchon Intellectual Factor[ies] spewing out all that po-mo lit- 
> crit on signs and signifiers. . .

>
> 	 . . . The preference, in this earlier mode of Pynchon criticism,
> 	was for drifting along with the author's own signs, symptoms,
> 	and signifiers, allowing Pynchon's literature to be
> 	"bookmatched" with Derridean (and other theorists')
> 	assumptions in such a way that the demarcation between the
> 	subject and method of analysis is deliberately blurred. . .
> 	http://www.electronicbookreview.com/thread/fictionspresent/speculated


> 	"And this is Joaquin," El Nato smiling up at the bird. "Tell them
> 	something about yourself, m'hijo."
>
> 	"I like to fuck the gringo pussy," confided the parrot.
>
> 	"How's that?" Ewball blinking at the bird's theatrical-British
> 	accent, recalling somehow vaudeville Shakespeare and
> 	profligate nights.
>
> 	A hideous laugh. "Got a problem with that, pendejo?"
>
> 	El Nato beamed fretfully. "There, there, Joaquin, we mustn't give
> 	our guests the wrong idea-it was only that one house-cat, one
> 	time, up in Corpus Christi, long, long ago."
>
> 	"Sin embargo, mi capitan, the adventure has haunted me."
> 	
> 	"Of course Joaquin and now gentlemen, if you wouldn't mind ... "
> 	Against the Day, page 385
>
>
> 	"Reality is more than the thing itself.  I look always for the super-
> 	reality.  Reality lies in how you see things.  A green parrot is
> 	also a green salad and a green parrot.  He who makes it only a
> 	parrot diminishes reality.  A painter who copies a tree blinds
> 	himself to the real tree.  I see things otherwise.  A palm tree can
> 	become a horse."
> 	(Pablo Picasso, A Palm Tree Becomes a Horse, 1950.)
>
>
> So a semiotician walks into a bar—"Ouch! This is not a symbol!"
>
>
> 	First thing Monday morning, they all come staggering from
> 	Bedrolls and Latrines to stand in loose Ranks and be tallied in.
> 	Overseer Barnes reads the Plan of the Day, the Revd comes by
> 	to say a short Prayer, then Special Requests are submitted, a
> 	few in writing, but most aloud and expected to be dealt with
> 	upon the Spot. Some mornings the Petitioning grows agitated
> 	indeed, with only the clanging of the Breakfast Alarm able to
> 	interrupt it.
> 	
> 	"He's telling them Parrot Jokes again."
>
> 	"Who is?"
>
> 	"You know, ... him."
>
> 	"Ehud? is this true, what he's saying?"
>
> 	"Mr. Barnes, Cap'n, Sir, all I said was, 'Sailor walks into a
> 	Tavern with a Parrot on his Shoulder, young Lass says,- ' "
>
> 	"There! he's doing it again!"
> 	
> 	" , "What'll it be?" and the Parrot says,- ' "
>
> 	"Two hours' extra Duty, Ehud. Yes, Mr. Spinney" . . .
> 	Mason & Dixon, pages 453, 454


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