Allegory is a phenomenon as ancient as art itself. In fact, the meaning of the word is not difficult to guess from its constituent parts - “other” and “say”. That is to say differently. Nevertheless, this concept is rather vague and many-sided.
Two meanings of the word "allegory"
In the first, narrower sense, this is a specific literary device, a synonym for allegory. At the same time, the latter is only one type of allegory, along with symbols, irony, paths and Aesopian language. More details about each of them will be discussed below.
In a broad sense, allegory is an integral part of art in principle. In fact, literary text, theatrical production, cinema or music in themselves are alternative ways to convey thoughts, feelings and ideas. That is, instead of directly talking about fear, love, hatred, justice, good and evil, you can convey all this through a story, a musical melody or a drawing.
Mankind came up with this way of transferring experience in antiquity and expressed it in the form of oral folk art - legends and myths, folk songs and dances. And after - fiction, painting and theater. Penetrated this method in architecture, so we have such a variety of styles and directions. In the nineteenth century, people invented cinema, and allegory also entered into it - in the form of feature films. At the same time, the direct way of expressing thoughts has not gone anywhere - it has also been developed in the form of such disciplines as journalism, documentary journalism, and journalism.
Allegory in literature
Concrete methods of allegory are in all forms of art. But at the mention of this word, its presence in literature is most often implied. Allegories, both at the level of stylistic figures, and at the level of the entire work, can be found in texts of any era.
So, in "Elder Edda", a collection of Scandinavian legends, in the narrow sense, allegory is kenning, that is, words and phrases that replace the names of characters and objects. For example: "horse of the sea" or "boar of the waves" - a ship; "Fafnir's bed" - gold; “crafty”, “mother of witches”, “father Hel” - the god of Loki; "husband Siv" and "killer of the Jotuns" are the god Thor.
Moreover, each character or object could have many kenning, but at the same kenning - only one replaceable value. This is necessary for a clear understanding.
Thus, kenning is an allegory in the narrow sense. And in a broad sense, allegory should mean the characters and the story itself. Thus, the gods in the "Senior Edda" personify not only natural phenomena, but also specific human qualities. One is wisdom, Loki is cunning and deceit, Thor is courage and physical strength. And the plot of the death of the gods is another way of saying that deceit and meanness lead to punishment.
With the help of such an analysis, one can find allegory in any work of art - both in a narrow and in a wide sense. But in non-fiction texts you can find only literary devices that fall under a narrow meaning.
Types and examples of allegory
In a narrow sense, the concept has several main types, often used in the literature.
Allegory - the substitution of an object or phenomenon in an artistic way, the representation of the abstract and the general concrete and particular. This is what brings her closer to allegory. However, there are still differences in these concepts, since allegory is a stable technique in the literary tradition. An example is just the image of pagan gods in mythology.
A symbol is also an image of the abstract through the concrete. Unlike allegory, it is intended to influence the feelings of the reader, causing emotions and related images. For example, the snake in the Old Testament is a symbol of sin and vice, which should cause rejection.
The irony is the use of words in the opposite sense to achieve a comic effect. So, a fool is called a clever, mediocre craftsman, and a small one is gigantic. Moreover, with the help of context, it is made clear that the author has in mind the opposite.
Trails, that is, all kinds of stylistic figures. This includes metaphors, avatars, epithets and other turns. For example, the evaluative epithet "golden age" means a period of wealth and / or cultural and scientific enlightenment.
Aesopian language
There is a whole literary orientation based on various allegories. This is the so-called Aesopian language - in honor of the ancient Greek poet, who was also a slave. Unable to speak directly about his masters, he wrote about their vices through allegorical tricks. Later they began to call it the manner of presentation, in which the author seeks to express any idea under censorship.
The purpose of Aesop's language is to convey the thought to the reader, but in such a way that the censor does not catch it. In such texts, almost every sentence is “encrypted” with symbols, irony, and other tricks. Aesopian language was actively used by satirists, for example, Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin, and later it became a characteristic device of this genre.