Abstract
They are a type of small parrot with a pink face and a red or black head and are found in Madagascar or Abyssinia. They are said to be “inseparable.” As a symbol of symbiosis and complete union they represent the most extreme form of a certain ideal of love and conjugality. Whatever one does the other does too. If one eats, the other eats. If one bathes, the other bathes too. If the male calls, the female answers him immediately. If one becomes ill, the other takes care of it and feeds it. If one dies, its other half doesn’t usually live long afterward.
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Note
Charles Fiterman, Profession de Foi (Paris: Le Seuil, 2005), p. 63.
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Muxel, A. (2014). The Ideal of Osmosis. In: Politics in Private. Europe in Transition: The Nyu European Studies Series. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137395597_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137395597_4
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