You may have come across the expression “Aesopian language.” What does it mean? Is there really such a people - “Aesops”? Or is Aesop someone's name? But then what does his language have to do with it? Let's try to figure this out together.
Aesop
Indeed, the Aesopian language is named after a person, the ancient Greek fabulist Aesop.
Now it is difficult to say whether he really existed - his figure is surrounded by many legends. Lived in the 2nd century BC. the historian Herodotus claimed that Aesop was born on the island of Samos, was a slave for a long time, but at the end of his life he managed to enjoy freedom. A hundred years later, Heraclides of Pontus disputed this information, saying that Aesop came from Thrace. The philosopher named the name of Aesop's first master - Xanthus. A more detailed description of the life of the fabulist belongs to the famous ancient Greek writer Aristophanes: he left behind the famous story about the cup that was allegedly thrown to Aesop and caused his death, and the fable about the eagle and the beetle, which he told before his death. Thus, by the end of the 4th century BC. A certain legend developed, the core of which were numerous details of Aesop’s biography.
Creative heritage
In order to explain what Aesopian language is, it is necessary to say a few words about the work of this legendary personality. After the death of the thinker, a collection of 426 short fables remained, all of which have a rather unusual style. The main characters in them are not people, but animals, and each character is the embodiment of some vice: stinginess, anger, envy. When reading the fables, it becomes clear that it is not animals who are ridiculed, but people; however, the slave, of course, could not ridicule his masters, so he was forced to resort to traditional allegorical literary techniques.
Aesopian language: the meaning of the term
Thus, this expression can be defined as a special style of presentation, the main function of which is disguise, hiding the author’s thoughts. The main techniques in this case are allegories, allusions, hidden quotes, veiled irony, “telling” names of characters, omissions, and periphrases.
Genres
Traditionally, Aesopian language was used by writers who wanted to express ideas that contradicted the official ideology and safely bypass the steel traps of censorship. Their favorite genres were fables, fairy tales, and descriptions of supposedly non-existent countries. Almost always, the central characters were animals endowed with human traits.
Aesopian language: examples
The most famous work written in Aesopian language is “Animal Farm” by George Orwell, a satirical story-parable that allegorically depicted the 1917 revolution in Russia.
The characters in the play were animals living on a farm (each character symbolized a certain social stratum - for example, sheep embodied the proletariat): they drove out the tyrant owner and tried to create a fair, classless society, but the consequences were very sad.
Aesopian (Aesopian) language Book. Express Allegorical encrypted expression of thoughts. - You certainly wanted accuracy when the entire directive was written in some kind of Aesopian language! - Brusilov waved it off irritably(Sergeev-Tsensky. Brusilovsky breakthrough). - The expression is associated with the name of the ancient Greek fabulist Aesop, who, according to legend, lived in the 6th century. BC e. Aesop, being a slave, was forced to resort to an allegorical form of expressing his thoughts. Hence, any ability to speak or express one’s thoughts in indirect terms, in parables, resorting to allegorical form, received the name Aesopian, or Aesopian, language. In Russian, this expression was introduced into wide circulation by M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin. Lit.: Ashukin N. S., Ashukina M. G. Winged words. - M., 1960. - P. 685.
Phraseological dictionary of the Russian literary language. - M.: Astrel, AST. A. I. Fedorov. 2008.
See what “Aesopian (Aesopian) language” is in other dictionaries:
Aesopian (Aesopian) language- Book Allegorical expression of thoughts; a language full of allusions and allegories. BTS, 1513, 1532; /i> On behalf of the Greek fabulist Aesop. FSRY, 540; BMS 1998, 649 ... Large dictionary of Russian sayings
Aesopian (Aesopian) language- units Allegorical, disguised language... Educational dictionary of stylistic terms
Aesopian (rabian) language- An expression meaning allegorical language, full of omissions, hints, allegories; comes from the name of the legendary Greek fabulist Aesop, who, according to legend, lived in the 6th century. BC. Aesop was a slave; since there was a lot to talk about freely and openly... Dictionary of popular words and expressions
Aesopian (rabian) language
Aesopian (rabian) language- wing. sl. An expression meaning allegorical language, full of omissions, hints, allegories; comes from the name of the legendary Greek fabulist Aesop, who, according to legend, lived in the 6th century. BC e. Aesop was a slave; since it’s free to talk about a lot of things... Universal additional practical explanatory dictionary by I. Mostitsky
Aesopian language- Aesopian language, allegory, allegory Dictionary of Russian synonyms. Aesopian language noun, number of synonyms: 3 allegory (9) ... Synonym dictionary
Aesopian language- Aesopian language, Aesopian speech (on behalf of the ancient Greek fabulist Aesop), a special type of secret writing in literature, an allegory that deliberately disguises the author’s thoughts. In fact, the entire fable genre is an allegory of this kind, to a large extent... ... Literary encyclopedia
Aesopian language- (named after the ancient Greek fabulist Aesop) secret writing in literature, allegorical artistic speech that deliberately disguises the thought (idea) of the author. Category: Language. Fine expressive means Synonym: Aesopian language Genre: fable, parable... Terminological dictionary-thesaurus on literary criticism
AESOP'S LANGUAGE- AESOPIC (SKY) LANGUAGE [named after another group. fabulist Aisopos (VI century BC)] expression of thoughts through hints, omissions and allegories. Dictionary of foreign words. Komlev N.G., 2006. AESOPIC LANGUAGE see Es. language Dictionary of foreign words included in... ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language
Aesopian language- (Aesopian language) (on behalf of the ancient Greek fabulist Aesop, a slave who lived in the 6th century BC) a type of allegory: the language of hints, omissions, used primarily in satirical works (fables, satires, epigrams, feuilletons, etc.... ... Dictionary of literary terms
Allegorical expression of thoughts, allusions and allegories.
Do you remember the fable about the raven and the fox? The purpose of the fable is to tell not about animals, but about people.
It’s just that this story is encrypted: people with their vices are depicted as animals. This allegorical manner, full of hints, omissions and secret meanings, is called Aesopian language.
The expression is associated with the name of the ancient Greek fabulist Aesop, who lived in the 6th century BC.
Aesopian language is actively used in literature and journalism during the reign of censorship, when direct expression becomes impossible or dangerous.
Phraseologism preserves the memory of Aesop, the legendary ancient Greek fabulist. He was a slave, so he could not speak openly and had to clothe his stories about human weaknesses and vices in an allegorical form.
The plots of Aesop's fables formed the basis of European fable creativity; we will meet them in Ivan Andreevich Krylov (1769 - 1844) and in Jean de La Fontaine.
- You certainly wanted accuracy when the entire directive was written in some kind of Aesopian language! - Brusilov waved it off irritably.
Sergey Nikolaevich Sergeev-Tsensky. "Brusilovsky breakthrough"
AESOPIC LANGUAGE
Allegorical expression of thoughts, allusions and allegories.
❀ ❀ ❀We have repeatedly heard the expression “Aesopian language.” What does this term mean and where does it come from? It is not known for certain whether such a person lived, or whether this is a collective image. There are many legends about him, and in the Middle Ages his biography was compiled. According to legend, he was born in the 6th century BC. e. in and was a slave of Croesus, however, his resourceful mind, ingenuity and cunning helped him gain freedom and glorified him for many generations.
Naturally, it was the founding father of this technique who first used Aesopian language. Examples of this are given to us by a legend that says that Croesus, having drunk too much, began to claim that he could drink the sea, and made a bet, putting his entire kingdom at stake. The next morning, having sobered up, the king turned to his slave for help and promised to grant him freedom if he helped him out. The wise slave advised him to say: “I promised to drink only the sea, without the rivers and streams that flow into it. Block them and I will fulfill my promise." And since no one could fulfill this condition, Croesus won the bet.
As a slave and then a freedman, the sage wrote fables in which he ridiculed the stupidity, greed, lies and other vices of the people he knew - mainly his former master and his slave-owning friends. But since he was a forced man, he clothed his narrative in allegories, periphrases, resorted to allegories, and depicted his heroes under the names of animals - fox, wolf, crow, etc. This is Aesopian language. The characters in the funny stories were easily recognizable, but the “prototypes” could do nothing but rage silently. In the end, ill-wishers planted a vessel stolen from the temple on Aesop, and the priests of Delphi accused him of theft and sacrilege. The sage was given the choice to declare himself a slave - in this case, his master only had to pay a fine. But Aesop chose to remain free and accept execution. According to legend, he was thrown from a cliff at Delphi.
Thus, thanks to his ironic but allegorical style, Aesop became the founder of such a fable. In subsequent eras of dictatorships and infringement of freedom of expression, the fable genre enjoyed great popularity, and its creator remained a real hero in the memory of generations. We can say that the Aesopian language has long outlived its creator. Thus, there is an antique bowl with a drawing of a hunchback (according to legend, Aesop had an ugly appearance and was a hunchback) and a fox, which tells something - art historians believe that the founder of the fable is depicted on the bowl. Historians claim that in the sculpture row of the “Seven Sages” in Athens there once stood a statue of Aesop by the chisel of Lysippos. At the same time, a collection of the writer’s fables appeared, compiled by an anonymous person.
The Aesopian language was extremely popular: the famous “Tale of the Fox” is composed in just such an allegorical style, and in the images of the fox, wolf, rooster, donkey and other animals the entire ruling elite and clergy of the Roman Church are ridiculed. This manner of speaking vaguely, but aptly and caustically, was used by La Fontaine, Saltykov-Shchedrin, the famous composer of fables Krylov, and the Ukrainian fabulist Glibov. Aesop's parables were translated into many languages, they were composed in rhyme. Many of us probably know the fable about the raven and the fox, the fox and the grapes from school - the plots of these short moralizing stories were invented by an ancient sage.
It cannot be said that the Aesopian language, the meaning of which during regimes where censorship ruled the roost, is irrelevant today. The allegorical style, which does not directly name the target of satire, seems to be addressed in its “letter” to a harsh censor, and in its “spirit” - to the reader. Since the latter lives in realities that are subject to veiled criticism, he easily recognizes it. And even more than that: a quirky manner of ridicule, full of secret hints that require guessing, hidden symbols and images, is much more interesting to readers than a direct and undisguised accusation of the authorities of any offenses, so even those writers and journalists who have nothing to do with it resort to elements of Aesopian language afraid. We see its use in journalism, journalism, and pamphlets on current political and social topics.
How did free-thinking writers hide difficult meanings from the censors? Retelling the main provisions of the classic, but not well read book by Lev Losev
Prepared by Maria Kanatova
Portrait of Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin. Autolithograph by Evgeny Sidorkin. 1977 RIA News"
Aesopian language is a literary system that helps the author convey special information to the reader, while simultaneously hiding it from the censor. Using a variety of artistic means, the author creates “shields” that mask uncensored information. And special markers tell the reader about the possibility of an allegorical reading:
Composed by you, Samozvanov,
The Romanovs are a whole family;
But I say, the truth is not hidden:
I don't like your family romances.
The address epigram of Vladimir Likhachev, published in 1905 in the magazine “Spectator”, seems to be addressed to a bad writer. But the reader of that time sees where the comma is missing in the last verse: “I don’t like your family, Romanov,” and the poem turns into an anti-government epigram. Aesop's statement is thus based here on a homonymous pun.
Aesopian language is the direct child of censorship, which operated in Russia from the era of Peter I, when Russian literature was just beginning. Censorship has trained a virtuoso riddler in the writer, and an unsurpassed riddle guesser in the reader. Critics of the 19th century despised Aesopian language for its slavish secrecy, contrasting it with bold, direct satire. Saltykov-Shchedrin, the author of the term “Aesopian language,” wrote about it as a “slave manner,” which consists in the fact that the writer, no less than the work, is concerned with ways to get it into print.
Attitudes towards Aesopian language were changing towards the end of the century. Its paradox is that strict censorship spurs the author’s creative thought, forcing him to go to various artistic lengths in order to express what cannot be said directly: in the language of analogies, the danger posed by wolves keeps the deer in good shape. The works of the same Saltykov-Shchedrin, who widely used Aesopian language, have lost their relevance, but we still admire their subtle wit.
Aesop's statement exists on two levels - direct and allegorical. The reader may not notice the second plan, but this will not make the work worse, since the first plan itself is full of various artistic meanings. From a practical point of view, the intervention of the censor and the need for Aesopian language are an unnecessary obstacle to the transmission of the message from the author to the reader. But this interference and noise may contain the meaning of the entire message. The main thing for the conspiracy of the encoder and decipherer is that the censor does not see the secret message behind this noise.
This happened, for example, with Mikhail Shatrov’s play “Bolsheviks”. She describes a meeting of the Council of People's Commissars in 1918, at which the need for Red Terror against the opposition is discussed. This iconographic genre of docudrama, common in the USSR, is in itself a good shield: such plays were easily passed over even by very educated censors. And the viewer who watches it in the 1960s already knows that the terror will last for years and will affect even those who discuss it in the plot of the play. Behind the façade of extreme documentation lies an Aesopian polemic with the Bolshevik idea of power. The play lacks many elements of Leninism as a genre: a demonstration of Lenin’s “kindness”, a caricature of “enemies”, which signals to the viewer about the Aesopian component, and for the censor it is this very noise, an artistic flaw.
Joseph Kobzon during a speech Valentin Mastyukov / TASS The state can also use Aesopian language. For example, on November 7, 1975, singer Joseph Kobzon, at a festive concert with the party elite, sang the song “Migratory Birds Are Flying...”, which had not been performed since the 1940-50s and was almost forgotten. The concert was broadcast on television, showing the applause of high-ranking spectators in the hall. Aesop's message was this: the Jew is promised prosperity in the Soviet Union if he is loyal to the state. Millions of viewers instantly understood this and the message was easily deciphered. Kobzon personified the Jews, the lyrics represented loyalty, and the applause of the party elite promised prosperity. The whole situation served as a shield, a marker was a song that had not been performed for a long time, and a Jewish performer. This Aesopian method of notification was very convenient for the state: if it then decided to change the terms of the unspoken agreement with the Jews, no one would be able to prove that such a thing existed at all.
Sofia Parnok's 1922 poem "Bellerophon" is one of the earliest examples of Aesopian language in post-October literature. The role of shields is played by a mythological plot and mythological names - Bellerophon, Chimera. At the same time, the word “chimera,” which has a second meaning of “utopia,” becomes a marker for the reader. And then the last two stanzas of the poem are read differently: now they are about the Soviet regime repressing the poet.
Bellerophon to Chimera
A shower of arrows rained down...
Who can believe, believe,
What a mark the sight was!And I am without tears, stubbornly
I look at my life
And the ancient one, the same one,
I recognize the claws
Boris Pasternak TASS-Dossier For example, a translation can serve as a shield for an Aesopian statement. Thus, Pasternak, in his translation of Macbeth, tried to express how he lived and what he felt during the years of Stalin’s terror, slightly shifting the Shakespearean accents:
People are used to tears and don’t notice them.
To the flickering of frequent horrors and storms
They are treated as ordinary phenomena.
All day they call for someone, but no one
Not curious about who is being buried.(Where sighs and groans and shrieks that rend the air
Are made, not marked; where violent sorrow seems
A modern ecstasy; the dead man's knell
Is there scarce ask’d for who...)
Often authors transfer the action to another era or country, keeping in mind modernity and compatriots. Thus, Bella Akhmadulina in the poem “Bartholomew’s Night” seems to be writing about the sad events of French history, but an attentive reader will understand that she is actually talking about the USSR. The markers here are stylistic allusions (typically Russian colloquial expressions: “what nonsense!”).
An Aesopian message may be hidden in a children's work: adult readers saw in Georgy Ladonshchikov's poem “The Starling in a Foreign Land” (“The starling flew away from the cold…”) a hint of the emigration of writers; in the lines about how the starling yearns for “the cat that hunted him” - a mockery of the widespread intellectual opinion that emigration is still a mistake. In the story “Nedopesok” by Yuri Koval, the world of arctic foxes living in captivity is carefully described and there is only one word, upon which the reader begins to see analogies with the Soviet Union. This is the word “feeder,” which in Soviet slang meant “a place of work where you can profit from something with impunity.”
Aesop's message may concern a specific person. During the persecution of Solzhenitsyn in the New World, Yevgeny Markin’s poem “White Buoy” was published. It is about a beacon keeper, and only one word hints at the story with Solzhenitsyn - the beacon keeper's patronymic is Isaich. The poem begins to be read in an allegorical vein: “... how absurd this strap is, / how clear his eyes are.” The attentive and knowledgeable reader receives the message: Solzhenitsyn is a good person.
In principle, the reader who is able to unravel Aesop’s message knows without him that Solzhenitsyn is a good person and Stalin is a villain. Aesopian language most often confronts the most sacred taboos, for example, pro-state myths. And the publication of each Aesopian text was a holiday for the intelligentsia: it was perceived as a breach in the totalitarian system, a victory for the joint efforts of the author and the reader.
