Literature as Parrotry: Jorge de Sena's 'Homenagem ao Papagaio Verde' and the Search for a Lusophone Postcolonial Voice

ABSTRACT: This article contends that Jorge de Sena's 1966 story 'Homenagem ao Papagaio Verde' emulates an array of historical parrot stories to critique the Estado Novo regime and colonialism more broadly. Focusing in particular on parallels with Flaubert's 'Un cœur simple', it explores Sena's distinction between thoughtless imitation and constructive emulation, and, by considering the philosophical implications of talking birds, foregrounds the question of parrots and parrotry. The article also makes links to other Portuguese anticolonial works, examining the cultural significance of parrots as both products of and threats to colonial ideology.