What is allegory in literature briefly. Allegory is allegory translated from Greek

• Allegory (from ancient Greek ἀλληγορία - allegory) - artistic representation of ideas (concepts) through concrete artistic image or dialogue.

  Allegory is used as a trope in poetry, parables, and morality. It arose on the basis of mythology, was reflected in folklore and was developed in fine arts. The main way to depict an allegory is to generalize human concepts; ideas are revealed in the images and behavior of animals, plants, mythological and fairy tale characters, inanimate objects that receive figurative meaning.

  Example: justice - Themis (woman with scales).

  Allegory is the artistic isolation of concepts with the help of specific representations. Religion, love, soul, justice, discord, glory, war, peace, spring, summer, autumn, winter, death, etc. are depicted and presented as living beings. The qualities and appearance attached to these living beings are borrowed from the actions and consequences of what corresponds to the isolation contained in these concepts; for example, the isolation of battle and war is indicated by means of military weapons, seasons - by means of their corresponding flowers, fruits or activities, impartiality - by means of scales and a blindfold, death - by means of a clepsydra and a scythe.

  Obviously, allegory lacks the full plastic brightness and completeness of artistic creations, in which the concept and the image completely coincide with each other and are produced creative imagination inseparably, as if fused together by nature. The allegory oscillates between a concept derived from reflection and its cunningly invented individual shell and, as a result of this half-heartedness, remains cold.

  Allegory, corresponding to the image-rich mode of presentation eastern peoples, occupies a prominent place in the art of the East. On the contrary, it is alien to the Greeks, given the wonderful ideality of their gods, understood and imagined in the form of living personalities. Allegory appears here only in Alexandrian times, when the natural formation of myths ceased and the influence of Eastern ideas became noticeable. Its dominance is more noticeable in Rome. But it dominated most of all the poetry and art of the Middle Ages from the end of the 13th century, at a time of ferment when the naive life of fantasy and the results of scholastic thinking mutually touch and, as far as possible, try to penetrate each other. So - with most troubadours, with Wolfram von Eschenbach, with Dante. Feuerdank, a 16th-century Greek poem describing the life of Emperor Maximilian, may serve as an example of allegorical-epic poetry.

  Allegory has a special use in animal epic. It's very natural that various arts consist essentially various relationships to an allegory. The hardest thing is to avoid it modern sculpture. Being always doomed to depict a person, she is often forced to give as an allegorical isolation what greek sculpture could give in the form of individual and full image life of god.

  For example, John Bunyan’s novel “The Pilgrim’s Progress to the Heavenly Land” and Vladimir Vysotsky’s parable “Truth and Lies” are written in the form of an allegory.

Allegory is the use of abstract concepts that symbolically convey the characteristics of a specific image. One word is illustrated by another. The allegory includes two important components. The semantic element of an allegory is an object that the author depicts, but does not name it.

For example, wisdom, courage, kindness, youth. The second element is a subject object that must convey the named concept into the work. For example, an owl is a creature that signifies wisdom.

Most often, allegories are stable images that move from work to work. Most often used in fables or parables. Thus, the main characters of fables are allegories. For example, in Krylov’s famous fable “The Crow and the Fox,” the fox is an allegory of cunning. Almost all the animals in Krylov’s fables are constant allegories, so after reading the title “Pig under the Oak,” the reader immediately understands that the fable ridicules human ignorance. After all, for Krylov the pig is an allegory of ignorance.

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In literature classes at school, we all came across the concept of allegory. In fact, it is found not only in literature, but also in painting, sculpture, cinema and other forms of art.

The only exception is music.

What is an allegory? This Greek word, meaning “allegory”, usually means artistic technique, which consists in expressing the abstract, abstract concept through an obvious visible image. Most a shining example may serve as an image of death in the form of wrapped in black figures with a scythe.

Allegories were extremely common in the art of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, remaining one of the main methods of expressing the thoughts of artists until the nineteenth century. Modern masters they also widely use allegories, but they do it more subtly and unnoticed by the inexperienced viewer.

Literary allegories originate from ancient times - from famous works Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. In bright, convex images, a number of allegorical pictures appear before us: for example, Odysseus is the embodiment of inquisitive human thought, his wife Penelope is a bright and touching image fidelity.

The texts are extremely allegorical Holy Scripture. The parables and images contained in them carry a huge semantic load, prompting people to seek new interpretations in accordance with the needs of the coming times.

Classic poetic and prose works full of allegorical images: “ Human Comedy"by the brilliant Dante and "The Tale of Igor's Campaign", Shakespeare's sonnets and Shelley's poems, Zhukovsky's ballads and Saltykov-Shchedrin's satire.


In the works of almost every talented author one can find a number of allegories that they widely use to express their thoughts when creating works.

A striking example of allegories in literature are fables written by I.A. Krylov. Almost all of their characters are animals, but when we read them, we understand perfectly well that we are talking here more about people, and not even about them, but about their vices and virtues. Thus, the Fox in fables appears before us as the embodiment of cunning and deceit, sometimes added to them by flattery and impudence.

The donkey has forever become in the minds of Russian people an image of stupidity, stubbornness and ignorance. The Bear often embodies good nature, strength and limitations, and the Rooster – narcissism and arrogance.

Each fable through funny story from the life of the forest inhabitants conveys to the reader a certain moral standard of behavior. The totality of these rules and images constitutes a significant part of the mentality of our people.

The work of A.S. Pushkin is allegorical in its very essence. Poetry in general uses this technique extremely widely, and the greater the poet’s talent, the more widely and freely allegorical images are used in his work. From his very first poem, “To a Poet Friend,” published in 1814, to his last works, he widely used allegories.


Images of the Muse, Freedom, Fortune are intertwined with captivating images real women, his contemporaries. Freedom is often embodied in paintings wildlife, images of an awakened eagle and free wind. Images created a brilliant master words that invariably find a lively response in the hearts of people even today.

Allegory- an allegory that contains and conveys a deeper and more significant meaning under the cover of external, superficial content.

Examples of Old Testament allegories

The nations collapsed into the hole they had dug; in the net which they hid their foot was entangled. ()

I trust in You, Lord, that I may never be ashamed; according to Thy righteousness deliver me; incline Your ear to me, hasten to deliver me. Be to me a rocky stronghold, a house of refuge to save me, for You are my rocky mountain and my fence; for Thy name's sake lead me and rule over me. Lead me out of the snare that they have secretly laid for me, for You are my strength. ()

God! Your mercy reaches to the heavens, Your truth reaches to the clouds! ()

Examples of New Testament allegories

Another of His disciples said to Him: Lord! let me first go and bury my father. But Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.” ()

Leave them alone: ​​they are blind leaders of the blind; and if a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit. ()

Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone drinking water this he will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into eternal life. ()

Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant looking for good pearls, who, having found one pearl of great price, went and sold everything he had and bought it. ()

Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which, having found, a man hid, and out of joy over it he goes and sells everything he has and buys that field. ()

Why is allegorical language used in the Bible?

The main goal of prophetic, and subsequently apostolic preaching, was to promote the unity of man and God. In this regard, the Bible, in addition to information historical nature, contains the teaching about God, His, as well as moral instructions.

With this in mind, it becomes clear that even for people considered to be educated, many of the truths presented in Scripture cannot be understood and comprehended in all depth. The Bible is addressed not only to learned men, but to every person.

It is not least for this reason that many of the Divine truths noted in the Bible are presented to the reader in the language of allegory, within the framework of a more or less simplified language adapted for a wide audience. To clarify many of these truths, examples are used, borrowed from the lives of people or from the surrounding world.

Thus, it is reported about the omnipresence of God that God fills the whole world with Himself (), although in reality God, by His infinity, is above any extent and is not at all conditioned by spatial boundaries. In connection with the manifestation of the Divine in one place or another, Scripture claims that God walks (). God's omniscience is marked by the thought that God sees everything and that His eyes are everywhere, although as a Spirit He has neither bodily ears nor bodily eyes ().

In a number of cases, allegories are used because they encourage a person to look at himself as if from the outside. Similar allegories were used during the Old Testament, and during the New Testament - by the Savior. Some of them, by inspiration of the Spirit, became part of the Holy Books of the Old and New Testaments.

For example, King David, after listening to the parable of the prophet Nathan, condemned one of the tributary heroes, an evil rich man who took away the only lamb from a good poor man, after which the prophet announced that by the image of the rich man he meant David himself, who had entered into an illicit relationship with the wife of his warrior , who, moreover, according to his intent, was killed in the war. After this admonition, David deeply realized that he was wrong, admitted guilt and responsibility, and sincerely repented of what he had done ().

Of course, we should not forget that the Bible contains poetic lines. In this regard, allegories are used by the authors as figures poetic speech. We find similar allegories in the psalms and biblical songs.

In addition, many objects, events, and persons from the times of the Old Testament are objects, events, and persons from the times of the New Testament. This connection is revealed in the format of an allegorical interpretation of the Bible. Thus, the Ark of the Covenant prefigured the Old Testament altar - the Cross of Christ, the tabernacle - Christian churches, David - Christ, Antiochus Epiphanes - the Antichrist.

What are the criteria for recognizing a particular fragment of the Bible as an allegory?

As is known, the interpretation of the content of the Old and New Testaments involves the use of various methods and approaches, among which the following can be distinguished: literal, historical, allegorical, moral, educational, philological, linguistic.

A deep interpretation of a number of passages requires the use of several methods at once. For example, some stories reflecting the history of the forefathers, the history of the Israeli people, can be considered in a moral sense and at the same time - as future events. Let's say the story of the universal and saved Noah is considered as historical event. At the same time, Noah’s Ark also had educational significance, serving as a prototype of the Church. Antiochus Epiphanes is a historical figure, but in patristic literature he is often perceived as a prototype.

From the right choice and the application of one or another method depends on the correct interpretation of one or another biblical context. Some Bible verses do not allow literal interpretation at all and require an allegorical interpretation. Let's say, the fragment where it is described that Adam heard the steps of ) walking in , () cannot be interpreted literally, since - the All-Perfect and Omnipresent Spirit, not limited to any place and not needing spatial movement through walking. Likewise, the context reporting the “repentance” of God () is not subject to literal interpretation, because God is all-blessed and unchangeable, and never passes from one “emotional” state to another.

Unfortunately, in Lately They tend to reduce even those biblical verses that clearly require literal perception to allegory. For example, the narrative about the origin of the human race from a single human couple, from Adam and Eve, is often interpreted in such a way that the biblical Adam was not a specific person at all, Adam, but biblical Eve- not Eve at all, but that they are just allegorical personified images of the male and female half primitive human community.

Such interpretations are the result of deviations from and are often associated with the desire of individual thinkers to adjust the content of Scripture to the conclusions modern science(natural sciences, philology, religious studies, world history etc.).

How to avoid these kinds of mistakes? What should one rely on in order to correctly determine which fragment should be interpreted allegorically and which - strictly literally? IN in this case it is necessary to rely on the Tradition of the Ecumenical Orthodox Church. After all, it is she who is the “pillar and affirmation of the truth” (); the Spirit of truth dwells in it (), and it is headed by God Himself - the Lord).

If a researcher or reader of the Bible sees that the literal interpretation of certain passages contradicts the teachings of the Church, for example, where God is spoken of in anthropomorphic expressions, then these passages should be interpreted allegorically, spiritually, taking into account the provisions of patristics. But if some place, according to Tradition, has a literal interpretation, then this interpretation cannot be excluded for the sake of a “scientific” or heterodox argument, replacing it with an allegorical interpretation. If the teaching of the Church differs from this kind of argument, the Church must be trusted. Saint, from Discourse 29 on 1 Cor.: [The ambiguity of some places in the sacred books often] “comes from the unknown of the subject that is being spoken about, and from the impoverishment of events that then existed, but do not exist now.”

“The letter teaches what was done; allegory - what to believe in, morality - how to act; anagogy – something to strive for.”
Nikolay Lirinsky

1) detailed comparison; 2) in fine art - the personification of abstract concepts, properties and qualities in the form of a specific character, creature or object.

Excellent definition

Incomplete definition ↓

ALLEGORY

As a rule, allegory is understood as “ literary device or a type of imagery, the basis of which is allegory: the imprinting of a speculative idea in an objective image.” In an allegory there are two planes: figurative-objective and semantic, but it is “the semantic plane that is primary: the image already captures any given thought.” In A. Kvyatkovsky’s “Poetic Dictionary,” allegory is defined as “the depiction of an abstract idea through a concrete, clearly represented image.” The perception of allegorical imagery presupposes a rationalistic isolation of meaning, a kind of liberation of the “idea” from the “physical”, pictorial nature of the “objectivity” of the image, which thereby makes allegory fundamentally opposite to the symbol, which is not designed for such an intellectual operation and, unlike allegory, does not have, a strictly defined value or set of values. The opposition between allegory and symbol was actualized in the aesthetics and practice of symbolism. J. Moreas, in his article “Symbolism” (1885, 1886), wrote that although “symbolist poetry tries to clothe an idea in a tangible form,” at the same time, “it never reaches the knowledge of the Idea-in-itself.” Allegory can be understood as the Idea-in-itself fully cognized. The symbol, considered against the background of an allegory or emblem, appears in the form of an endless semantic “perspective” that does not have a certain conceptual semantic “bottom”. According to the famous poetic formula of S. Mallarmé from his sonnet “The Tomb of Edgar Allan Poe,” “an idea is not allowed to be cast in bas-relief.” The primacy of the semantic plan of an allegory can also be understood as a given semantic conceptualization in the process of creating allegorical imagery. In the process of creativity, the artist had to, as it were, “dress”, “dress up” already ready-made and formed ideas into figurative texture. The symbol, on the contrary, is focused on the emerging conceptualization in the creative process itself, and the logic and meaning of this formation are, as it were, hidden and independent of the intellectual efforts of the author-creator. “A real symbol,” writes M. Maeterlinck, “is born against the will of the author himself.” Liter: A. Kvyatkovsky. Poetic dictionary. – M., 1966; L. Shch. Allegory // Literary encyclopedic Dictionary. – M., 1987; A. E. Makhov. Allegory // Poetics: Dictionary of current terms and concepts. – M., 2008; Jean Moreas. Manifesto of Symbolism // Foreign literature XX century. Reader. Ed. N. P. Michalskaya and B. I. Purishev. – M., 1981; M. Maeterlinck. [About the symbol] // Foreign literature of the 20th century. Reader. Ed. N. P. Michalskaya and B. I. Purishev. – M., 1981; French symbolism: Drama and theater. – St. Petersburg, 2000; Z.G. Mints. Modernism in art and modernist in life // Z. G. Mints. Poetics of Russian symbolism. – St. Petersburg, 2004.