Taking off from a comprehensive and varied semantic range of the concept of the parable in different disciplines, the text considers if the manifold assumptions can achieve the goal of defining the parable and delineating it as a minimalist literary form, and to what extent that attempt is justifiable. In the first part, therefore, the parable is defined as regards its minimal content and kindred genres, while the following sections take up its referential and performative dimension, already considerably researched in other writings. In order to respond to these questions, the author relies on a selection from the foregoing mostly Biblical literature about the parable, using as well particular hermeneutical and literary theory texts by Ricoeur and Hillis Miller, respectively, and those that concern themselves with the problem of literary minimalism (Uzarevic's and Jolles' works). The aim of the essay is not so much to provide answers to all the questions, but, rather, to open up a possibility of considering the parable as a minimalist literary form, to promote potential benefits of such an approach, and point to intriguing links between literary-artistic and religious-didactic scope of the parable.
