Parrots and Nightingales: Troubadour Quotations and the Development of European Poetry by Sarah Kay (review)

Abstract

Sarah Kay’s new book takes its cue and its central approach from an age-old emblem that identifies the task of the lyricist with that of the nightingale (or the sparrow), as opposed to that of the parrot (or the crow). While the sparrow and the nightingale (from Catullus to Keats) are identified with the articulation of a rhetoric of spontaneity and natural correspondence, the parrot would imply the verbatim repetition of words and a higher reliance on adequate contextual response by the audience, but also a higher mediation by literary institutions and cultural gatekeepers. The way of the nightingale presents itself as one of free-flowing, unproblematic poetic thought, articulated by the objective existence of its objective content (be that feeling or experience). In stark opposition to it, the way of the parrot would be one of strict quotation: of negative response, modification, twisted irony, or parasitic appropriation. And yet, the core question of mimesis that lies at the centre of early modern poetics emerges precisely from the intersection of both ways: the way of the nightingale and the way of the parrot. Renaissance imitation stems from this crossroads as a textual development in both its philosophical and rhetorical aspects; not primarily a matter of ontology, but also, quite crucially, one of rhetorical practice.The book starts by examining textual practice, and maintains a close attention to detail throughout the entire volume. This approach makes the volume useful even for the non-specialist...