寓話

• 読み: ぐうわ
• ローマ字: guuwa
• 漢字の分解: 寓 (guu) — lodge within, entrust; 話 (wa) — story, tale, speech
• 発音: /ɡɯː.wa/

意味

Fable; allegory; parable; a short narrative that uses fictional characters or events to convey a moral lesson or deeper truth.

A noun for a narrative genre in which animals, objects, or fantastical beings act out a story whose purpose is to illustrate a moral, social, or philosophical lesson. Aesop's Fables (イソップ寓話) are the most internationally recognised examples. In Japanese literary and educational contexts, 寓話 may also describe allegorical works that encode social or political criticism within an apparently innocent story — particularly relevant to literature produced under censorship.

例文

1. イソップ寓話は数千年を経てもなお、道徳的な教訓を伝え続けている。
2. この短編集には、現代社会の矛盾を皮肉った寓話が収められている。
3. 子どもは寓話を通じて、善悪や公正といった価値観を自然に学ぶ。

使い方ガイド

場面: literature, education, ethics, literary criticism

トーン: literary

起源と歴史

Sino-Japanese compound. 寓 means 'to lodge within, to entrust a meaning' and 話 means 'story, tale, speech'. Together they describe a story that lodges a meaning within itself — a narrative vehicle for hidden moral content.

文化的背景

時代: Classical–Modern

世代: All ages

社会的背景: Universal