Anthropomorphism  

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* [[Uncanny Valley]] * [[Uncanny Valley]]
* [[Rhetoric]] * [[Rhetoric]]
 +
 +==In religion and mythology==
 +:''[[Anthropotheism]]''
 +In [[religion]] and [[mythology]], anthropomorphism refers to the perception of a divine being or beings in human form, or the recognition of human qualities in these beings. Many mythologies are concerned with anthropomorphic [[deity|deities]] who express human characteristics such as [[jealousy]], [[hatred]], or [[love]]. The [[family tree of the Greek gods|Greek gods]], such as [[Zeus]] and [[Apollo (god)|Apollo]], were often depicted in human form exhibiting human traits. Anthropomorphism in this case is referred to as [[anthropotheism]].
 +
 +Numerous [[sect]]s throughout history have been called [[wikt:anthropomorphite|anthropomorphites]] attributing such things as hands and eyes to God, including a sect in [[Egypt]] in the 4th century, and an heretical, 10th-century sect, who literally interpreted [[Book of Genesis]] chapter 1, verse 27: "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them."
 +
 +From the perspective of adherents of religions in which humans were created in the form of the divine, the [[phenomenon]] may be considered [[theomorphism]], or the giving of divine qualities to humans.
 +
 +===Criticism===
 +The Greek philosopher [[Xenophanes]] (570–480 BC) said that "the greatest god" resembles man "neither in form nor in mind." Anthropomorphism of God is rejected by [[Judaism]] and [[Islam]], which both believe that God is beyond human limits of physical comprehension. Judaism's rejection grew after{{Citation needed|date=September 2009}} the advent of Christianity until becoming codified in 13 principles of Jewish faith authored by [[Maimonides]] in the 12th Century.
 +
 +In his book ''Faces in the Clouds: A New Theory of Religion'', [[Stewart Elliott Guthrie]] theorizes that all religions are anthropomorphisms that originate due to the brain's tendency to detect the presence or vestiges of other humans in natural phenomena.
 +==See also==
 +* [[Anthropic principle]]
 +* [[Anthropocentrism]]
 +* [[Humanoid]]
 +* [[Kemono]]
 +* [[Moe anthropomorphism]]
 +* [[National personification]]
 +* [[Stereotypes of animals]]
 +* [[Talking animals in fiction]]
 +* [[Zoomorphism]]
 +* [[List of anthropomorphic personifications]]
 +
{{GFDL}} {{GFDL}}

Revision as of 10:45, 3 January 2010

Anonymous Flemish print, end of the 16th century, from The Waking Dream book.
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Anonymous Flemish print, end of the 16th century, from The Waking Dream book.

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Anthropomorphism is the attribution of uniquely human characteristics and qualities to nonhuman beings, inanimate objects, or natural or supernatural phenomena. Animals, forces of nature, and unseen or unknown sources of chance are frequent subjects of anthropomorphosis. The term is derived from two Greek words, ἄνθρωπος (anthrōpos), meaning human, and μορφή (morphē), meaning shape or form. The suffix '-ism' originates from the morpheme -ισμός or -ισμα in the Greek language.

It is a common and seemingly natural tendency for humans to perceive inanimate objects as having human characteristics, one which some suggest provides a window into the way in which humans perceive themselves. Common examples of this tendency include naming cars or begging machines to work. In 1953, the U.S. government began assigning hurricanes names; initially the names were feminine, and shortly thereafter masculine names were introduced.

Contents

In literature

main Personification

Ancient literature

Anthropomorphism is a well established literary device from early times. Aesop's Fables, a collection of short tales written by the ancient Greek citizen Aesop, make extensive use of anthropomorphism, in which animals and weather are used to illustrate simple moral lessons. The books Panchatantra (The Five Principles) and The Jataka Tales employ anthropomorphised animals to illustrate various principles of life.

Children's literature

Anthropomorphism is commonly employed in books for children, such as those by Lewis Carroll, Roald Dahl, Brian Jacques, C.S. Lewis, and Beatrix Potter. Rev. W. Awdry's Railway Series depicts steam locomotives with human-like faces and personalities which leads to the popular tv series.

Fantasy

However, anthropomorphism is not exclusively used as a device in children's literature: Terry Pratchett is notable for having several anthropomorphic characters in his Discworld series, the best-known of which is the character Death. Piers Anthony also wrote a series regarding the seven Incarnations of Immortality, which are Death, Time, Fate, War, Nature, Evil, and Good. Neil Gaiman is notable for anthropomorphising seven aspects of the world in his series Sandman, named the Endless: Destiny, Death, Dream, Destruction, Desire, Despair, and Delirium. Perhaps most famously, George Orwell converted several key actors in the Russian Revolution into anthropomorphic animals in his satire Animal Farm. Garry Kilworth's Welkin Weasels series reverses the idea of carnivores as villains in children's literature. In Art Spiegelman's Maus, a graphic novel about The Holocaust, different races are portrayed as different animals - the Jews as mice, Germans as cats and Poles as pigs, for example.

Television

Anthropomorphism plays a role in some popular films and TV shows. The Griffin family of Fox's hit comedy Family Guy has an anthropomorphic dog named Brian, and the spin-off of Family Guy, The Cleveland Show, has a family of anthropomorphic bears. From the popular British animated short films Wallace and Gromit comes Gromit, the beloved anthropomorphic dog of Wallace. Almost all characters from Nickelodeon's hit show SpongeBob SquarePants are anthropomorphic in nature, with the exception of the characters Patchy the Pirate, Mermaidman and Barnacleboy, and the Flying Dutchman. Additionally, many of the films made by Pixar Animation Studios center around anthropomorphisms, including cars(Cars), fish(Finding Nemo), aliens, monsters, dogs and many others. The Character Birdo from the hit gaming series, Super Mario is also an anthropomorphic species.

See also

In religion and mythology

Anthropotheism

In religion and mythology, anthropomorphism refers to the perception of a divine being or beings in human form, or the recognition of human qualities in these beings. Many mythologies are concerned with anthropomorphic deities who express human characteristics such as jealousy, hatred, or love. The Greek gods, such as Zeus and Apollo, were often depicted in human form exhibiting human traits. Anthropomorphism in this case is referred to as anthropotheism.

Numerous sects throughout history have been called anthropomorphites attributing such things as hands and eyes to God, including a sect in Egypt in the 4th century, and an heretical, 10th-century sect, who literally interpreted Book of Genesis chapter 1, verse 27: "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them."

From the perspective of adherents of religions in which humans were created in the form of the divine, the phenomenon may be considered theomorphism, or the giving of divine qualities to humans.

Criticism

The Greek philosopher Xenophanes (570–480 BC) said that "the greatest god" resembles man "neither in form nor in mind." Anthropomorphism of God is rejected by Judaism and Islam, which both believe that God is beyond human limits of physical comprehension. Judaism's rejection grew afterTemplate:Citation needed the advent of Christianity until becoming codified in 13 principles of Jewish faith authored by Maimonides in the 12th Century.

In his book Faces in the Clouds: A New Theory of Religion, Stewart Elliott Guthrie theorizes that all religions are anthropomorphisms that originate due to the brain's tendency to detect the presence or vestiges of other humans in natural phenomena.

See also




Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Anthropomorphism" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

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