Allegory is as ancient as art itself. In fact, it is not difficult to guess the meaning of the word 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 of the types of allegory, along with symbols, irony, tropes and Aesopian language. Each of them will be discussed in more detail below.
In a broad sense, allegory is an integral part of art in principle. In fact, a literary text, theatrical production, cinema or music are in themselves 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 picture.
This way of transferring experience was invented by mankind in ancient times and expressed in the form of oral folk art - legends and myths, folk songs and dances. And after - fiction, painting and theater. This method also penetrated into architecture, thanks to which we have such a variety of styles and trends. In the nineteenth century, people invented cinema, and allegory entered it too - in the form of feature films. At the same time, the direct way of expressing thoughts has not gone away - it has also been developed in the form of such disciplines as journalism, documentary, journalism.
Allegory in literature
There are specific methods of allegory in all art forms. But when this word is mentioned, its presence in literature is most often implied. Allegory, both at the level of stylistic figures and at the level of the whole work, can be found in texts of any era.
So, in the "Elder Edda", a collection of Scandinavian legends, in the narrow sense, allegory is kennings, 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; "wicked", "mother of witches", "father of Hel" - the god Loki; "husband of Siv" and "slayer of jotuns" - the god Thor.
Moreover, each character or object could have many kennings, but the kenning itself had only one replacement value. This is necessary for a clear understanding.
Thus, kenning is an allegory in the narrow sense. And in a broad sense, allegory should be understood as characters and the story itself. So, the gods in the "Elder Edda" personify not only natural phenomena, but also specifichuman qualities. Odin - wisdom, Loki - cunning and deceit, Thor - courage and physical strength. And the story about the death of the gods is another way to say 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 the narrow and in the broad sense. But in non-fiction texts, one can only find 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 is the replacement of an object or phenomenon with an artistic image, the representation of the abstract and the general by the concrete and the particular. This is what brings it closer to allegory. However, there are still differences in these concepts, since allegory is a device that is stable in the literary tradition. An example is just the images 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 reader's feelings, evoking emotions and related images. For example, the snake in the Old Testament is a symbol of sin and vice, which should cause rejection.
Irony is the use of words in the opposite sense to achieve a comic effect. So, a stupid person is called smart, a mediocre person is a craftsman, and a small person is called a giant. At the same time, with the help of context, it is made clear that the author means the opposite.
Trails, that is, all kinds of stylistic figures. These include metaphorspersonifications, epithets and other turns. For example, the evaluative epithet "golden age" means a period of we alth and/or cultural and scientific enlightenment.
Aesopian language
There is a whole literary trend based on all sorts of 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 techniques. Later, they began to call it the manner of presentation, in which the author seeks to express any idea under conditions of censorship.
The purpose of Aesopian language is to convey the idea 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 S altykov-Shchedrin, and later it became a characteristic device of this genre.
