Explanation
Parabola places two domains side by side and makes an action, everyday scene, or observation of nature legible for a moral or spiritual question. Unlike a single comparative phrase, it unfolds the relation through a small narrative or sequence of images; the transfer remains selective and must not be read as complete identity.
Example
A gardener watered only the most visible blossoms; the next year the roots that had sustained the whole garden were gone.
Counterexample
Invisible foundations deserve attention. The lesson is directly asserted without a comparative narrative.
Distinction
Unlike simile in the narrow sense, parabola unfolds a moral parallel through several narrative or imagistic features. Unlike allegory, it need not form a fully coded system of correspondences. Unlike aenos, it is less characteristically compressed into a riddling fable.
Effect on thought and perception
Allows an attitude to be tested in another field of experience before being fixed as an abstract proposition.
Resonance
Two dissimilar fields of experience begin to answer one another along a selected relation.
Cite this entry
Reich, Michael (Hrsg./ed.): „Rhetorical parabola“. Atlas der Sprache, AT-RHE-209-004. ATLAS 251, data model 1.6.0. https://atlasoflanguage.com/concept/AT-RHE-209-004The address remains stable; editorial content may evolve. A verified modification date per entry is not yet available. Include your access date for precise references.