TOWARD A NEW FORMULATION OF ALLEGORICAL DISCOURSE

TOWARD A NEW FORMULATION OF ALLEGORICAL DISCOURSE

It is methodologically convenient to distinguish what may be called allegorical functions from formal features of allegory. The former are structural principles underlying an allegorical discourse, whereas the latter are surface manifestations of the principles. We hold a general consensus, vague as it is, about allegorical functions, such as hiddenness of meaning, double referentiality, embodiment of human significance. It is then expected that some artistic solutions should be capable of conveying those functions. Actualization occurs in the choice of those artistic solutions. If we compare an alleg01ical text with a non-allegorical text, we will notice the foregrounding of certain artistic devices at the expense of other devices. For example, ideas may be personalized, the presence of an expository structure in the way of summing up the 'moral' of the narrative may be made prominent, multiple framing of the text to create different meaning chunks may occur, whereas efforts to establish verisimilitude, to round out the psychological dimensions of the characters, or to attend to vividness of detail may be less apparent. Whereas there is no infallible way of identifying an allegorical discourse, we still may let ourselves be alerted to the possibility of allegory when a discourse shows the conspicuous presence of the devices often associated with allegory, and when read as non-allegory it appears obstrusive, banal, or simply pointless, or incongruent with the rest of the text .