Allegory

Japanese: アレゴリー（英語表記）allegory

Allegory. The word originates from the Greek allos (other) + agoreuein (to speak). It uses symbols and images to convey a deeper meaning than the surface meaning, and can be considered an extended metaphor. It is more complex and longer than a parable or fable, and refers to a case in which the development of a story simultaneously constructs other events or ideas, and a clear and continuous connection is recognized between the two. Its basic technique is personification, in which a character represents an abstract idea. There are many examples in the 13th and 14th centuries, such as the secular Romance of the Rose and the religious Vision of Piers the Peasant, but they are also found in various fields such as the morality play Everyman, Dante's epic poem The Divine Comedy, Spenser's romance The Faerie Queene, and Bunyan's novel The Pilgrim's Progress. There are two types of allegory. One is historical and political, in which the meaning is focused on characters and events other than those in the story. The other type is ethical-religious, in which a series of ideological contents are attached to the characters and events in the story. In simple allegories, the story is entirely subordinate to morality, but complex ethical allegories have a sublime tone and serve the purpose of edifying while entertaining through the story. Political-historical allegories tend to have an ironic tone and are often closely associated with satire (for example, Dryden's Absalom and Achitophel). Allegorical interpretation has given rise to a special methodology in literary criticism.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

寓意。語源はギリシア語 allos (他) ＋agoreuein (話す) 。シンボルやイメージを用いて表面的意味より深い意味を伝えようとするもので，拡大された隠喩といえる。たとえ話 parableや寓話 fableより複雑で長く，ある物語の展開が同時に別の事件や思想を組立て，両者の間に明瞭で継続的な関連が認められる場合をいう。その基本的手法は擬人法であり，人物が抽象的観念を表わす。 13～14世紀に多くの例がみられ，世俗的な『薔薇物語』や宗教的な『農夫ピアズの幻』などを代表とするが，道徳劇『エブリマン』，ダンテの叙事詩『神曲』，スペンサーのロマンス『神仙女王』，バニヤンの小説『天路歴程』など各種の分野に広く見出される。アレゴリーには2つの型がある。1つは歴史的政治的なもので，物語に出てくる以外の人物や事件に意味の重点がおかれるもの。他方は倫理的宗教的なもので，物語中の人物や事件に一連の思想的内容が付加されているもの。単純なアレゴリーの場合，物語は完全に教訓に従属するが，複雑な倫理的アレゴリーは崇高な調子をもち，物語によって楽しませながら教化の目的を果す。政治的歴史的アレゴリーは皮肉な調子をもつ傾向があり，風刺と密接に結びつくことが多い (たとえばドライデンの『アブサロムとアキトフェル』) 。アレゴリー解釈は文学批評における特殊な方法論を生み出している。

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