Alegorii

Alegorii is the plural form used in Romanian and Italian for allegory; in English, the corresponding term is allegories. Alegorii are narrative or artistic works in which the surface story operates as a representation of deeper moral, political, or spiritual meanings. An allegory uses characters, events, and details as symbols that point beyond the literal actions to abstract ideas, such as virtue, vice, social forces, or religious truths. A sustained allegory is typically recognizable throughout the whole work.

Allegory has roots in ancient rhetoric and fables, and was developed in medieval and early modern literature. In religious and moral traditions, it allows complex ideas to be explored indirectly. In political contexts, allegory has been used to critique power and ideology without direct confrontation, as in satire and dystopian fiction. Visual arts and theater have employed allegory through personifications and allegorical scenes, such as courts of justice, liberty, or death personified.

Notable examples include George Orwell's Animal Farm, which uses a farm and animal characters to critique totalitarianism and the Russian Revolution; Dante's Divine Comedy, in which allegorical figures convey theological and moral concepts; and John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress, an extended religious allegory of the Christian journey. Modern critics distinguish allegory from symbolism and from metaphor: allegory typically unfolds through a coherent narrative that carries an additional, explicit level of meaning.

Etymology: the term derives from Latin allegoria, via Greek allēgoría, and means speaking otherwise. The plural form in Italian and Romanian is alegorii; in English, allegories.