Anthropomorphism

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File:Down the Rabbit Hole.png

John Tenniel's depiction of this anthropomorphic rabbit was featured in the first chapter of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits to a non-human entity. Subjects for anthropomorphism commonly include animals and plants depicted as creatures with human motivation able to reason and converse, forces of nature such as winds or the sun, components in games, unseen or unknown sources of chance, etc. Almost anything can be subject to anthropomorphism. The term derives from a combination of the Greek ἄνθρωπος (ánthrōpos), "human" and μορφή (morphē), "shape" or "form".

Humans seem to have an innate capacity to project human characteristics in this way. Evidence from art and artifacts suggests it is a long-held propensity that can be dated back to earliest times. It is strongly associated with the art of storytelling where it also appears to have ancient roots. Most cultures possess a long-standing fable tradition with anthropomorphised animals as characters that can stand as commonly recognised types of human behaviour. The use of such literature to draw moral conclusions can be highly complex.

Within these terms, humans have more recently been identified as having an equivalent opposite propensity to deny common traits with other species—most particularly apes—as part of a feeling that humans are unique and special. This tendency has been referred to as Anthropodenial by primatologist Frans de Waal.

In science

Ideas about objectivity

In the scientific community, using anthropomorphic language that suggests animals have intentions and emotions has been deprecated as indicating a lack of objectivity. Biologists have avoided the assumption that animals share any of the same mental, social, and emotional capacities of humans, relying instead on the strictly observable evidence. Animals should be considered, as Ivan Pavlov wrote in 1927, "without any need to resort to fantastic speculations as to the existence of any possible subjective states". More recently, The Oxford companion to animal behaviour (1987) advises "one is well advised to study the behaviour rather than attempting to get at any underlying emotion".

Scientific method involves observation, definition, and measurement of the subject of inquiry; empathy is not generally seen as a useful tool. While it is not unknown for scientists to lapse into anthropomorphism to make the objects of their study more humanly comprehensible or memorable, they often do it with an apology.

Despite the impact of Charles Darwin's ideas in The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (Konrad Lorenz in 1965 called him a "patron saint" of ethology) ethology has generally focused on behaviour, not on emotion in animals. Though in other ways Darwin was and is the epitome of science, his acceptance of anecdote and naive anthropomorphism stands out in sharp contrast to the lengths to which later scientists would go to overlook apparent mindedness, selfhood, individuality and agency:

“	"Even insects play together, as has been described by that excellent observer, P. Huber, who saw ants chasing and pretending to bite each other, like so many puppies."	”
—Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man

Use of anthropomorphism

The study of great apes in their own environment has changed attitudes to anthropomorphism. In the 1960s the three so-called "Leakey's Angels", Jane Goodall studying chimpanzees, Dian Fossey studying gorillas and Biruté Galdikas studying orangutans, were all accused of "that worst of ethological sins — anthropomorphism". The change was brought about by their descriptions of the great apes in the field; it is now more widely accepted that empathy has an important part to play in research. As Frans de Waal writes: "To endow animals with human emotions has long been a scientific taboo. But if we do not, we risk missing something fundamental, about both animals and us." Alongside this has come increasing awareness of the linguistic abilities of the great apes and the recognition that they are tool-makers and have individuality and Template:Reference necessary.

In religions and mythologies

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 almost entirely concerned with anthropomorphic deities who express human characteristics such as jealousy, hatred, or love (cf. Yahweh). The Greek gods, such as Zeus and Apollo, were often depicted in human form exhibiting both commendable and despicable human traits. Anthropomorphism in this case is sometimes referred to as Anthropotheism.

Opposition to anthropomorphism

Template:Neolithic Many religions and philosophies have condemned anthropomorphism for various reasons. Some Ancient Greek philosophers did not approve of, and were often hostile to their people's mythology. These philosophers often developed monotheistic views. Plato's (427–347 BC) Demiurge (craftsman) in the Timaeus and Aristotle's (384–322 BC) prime mover in his Physics are notable examples. The Greek philosopher Xenophanes (570–480 BC) said that "the greatest god" resembles man "neither in form nor in mind." (Clement of Alexandria, Miscellanies V xiv 109.1-3). The similarity of these philosophers' concepts of god to the concepts found in the Bible facilitated the incorporation of much pre-Christian Greek philosophy into the Medieval Christian world view by the Scholastics, most notably Thomas Aquinas. Anthropomorphism of God is rejected by Judaism and Islam, which both believe that God is beyond human limits of physical comprehension. Judaism's opposition to anthropomorphism grew after the advent of Christianity, which claimed Jesus was a physical manifestation of God, until becoming codified in 13 principles of Jewish faith authored by Maimonides in the 12th Century. This debate often led to persecution of the Jewish people in Europe. This conception is also championed by the doctrinal view of Nirguna Brahman.

From the perspective of adherents of religions in which the deity or deities have human characteristics, it may be more accurate to describe the phenomenon as theomorphism, or the giving of divine qualities to humans, rather than anthropomorphism, the giving of human qualities to the divine. According to their beliefs, the deity or deities usually existed before humans, therefore humans were created in the form of the divine. However, for those who do not believe in the doctrine of the religion, the phenomenon can be considered anthropomorphism. In his book Faces in the Clouds: A New Theory of Religion (1993), 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.

On rare occasions the literary use of anthropomorphism has been opposed on non-religious or political grounds. Lewis Carroll's novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was banned in China's Hunan province in 1911 because "animals should not use human language" and it "put animals and human beings on the same level." Later in the twentieth century George Orwell's novella Animal Farm used anthropomorphism to satirize Stalinism, as voiced by a pig in the famous passage "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others".

In literature

File:Gheerhaets Allegory iconoclasm.jpg

People performing religious practises in Allegory of Iconoclasm (1567) by Marcus Gheeraerts the Elder

File:SnarkInspiration.jpg

The "Allegory of Iconoclasm" (1567, lower picture) by Marcus Gheeraerts the Elder is an example for anthropomorphism in arts. The upper illustration shows, how in an artist's mind the "shapes" and simulacra from another picture possibly could be turned, in a masterful and funny way, into "real" faces in his own illustration.

Main article: Personification

Anthropomorphism is a well-established device in literature from early times. Aesop's Fables, a collection of short tales written or recorded by the ancient Greek citizen Aesop, make extensive use of anthropomorphism, in which animals and weather illustrate simple moral lessons. Aesop was a major influence on the early works of Ivan Krylov, who utilized anthropomorphic animals to cunningly criticize the Tsarist regime. One poet who made high art of the literary device was the northern renaissance poet Robert Henryson in his Morall Fabillis, where the blend of human and animal characteristics is especially subtle and ambiguous. The Indian books Panchatantra (The Five principles) and The Jataka tales employ anthropomorphized animals to illustrate various principles of life.

Stereotype of animal

When anthropomorphizing an animal, there is a stereotypical trait which commonly tend to be associated with a particular animal species. These are exaggerations of an aspect of the animal in question, while the stereotype is taken from mythology and replaces an observation-based judgment of the animal's behavior. Some are popularized or solidified by a single particular media. Once they enter the culture as a widely recognized stereotype of animal, they tend to be used in conversation and media as a kind of shorthand for expressing a particular quality.

While some authors make use of this animal stereotype "as is", others undermine reader expectations by reversing them, developing the animal stereotype in a contrasting way to foil an expectation.

Some modern stereotype of animal have a long tradition dating back to Aesop's Fables, which draw upon sources that include ancient Egyptian animal tales. Aesop's stereotypes were deeply ingrained by the time of Apollonius of Tyana that they were accepted as representative of the various types of an animal's nature:

Animal stereotyping in general

An animal stereotype reflects an anthropomorphic notion unrelated to its trait. Some stereotypes are based on a mistaken or grossly oversimplified impression.

Common Western animal stereotypes

Mammals

Apes

• Apes have the strong behavioral resemblance to humans.
• The monstrous chimpanzee, gorilla and orangutan.

Reptiles and amphibians

Dinosaurs

• The monstrous Velociraptor and Deinonychus.

Frogs and toads

• Toads are often anthropomorphized as obese people.
  • Examples: Mr. Toad in The Wind in The Willows, Ed Bighead, Old Mr. Toad in the tales of Thornton Burgess, Baron Silas Greenback (Danger Mouse), the Toad in Flushed Away
• Frogs on the other hand are typically depicted as lean, thin and energetic, due to the fact that they can hop quite high in real life and are quick swimmers.
  • Examples: Jeremy Fisher, Kermit the Frog, Flip the Frog, Michigan J. Frog, Superfrog, Dig'em (from the Honey Smacks cereals)
    • Video games also use frogs as characters because of this image: Frogger, Frogs
• While frogs are generally depicted as joyful and sympathetic characters toads tend to be portrayed more as grumpy and serious, or downright villains. A prime example of this distinction are Frog and Toad in the stories of Arnold Lobel.
  • Examples: Ed Bighead, Old Mr. Toad in the tales of Thornton Burgess, Baron Silas Greenback (Danger Mouse), the Toad in Flushed Away
• Since frog legs are a French culinary tradition the word "frog" has become a derogatory term to describe French people. As a result, frogs in English popular culture sometimes have French accents.
  • Examples: Jean-Bob in The Swan Princess, Prince Naveen
• Another stereotype associated with frogs is the urban legend about the boiling frog, incorrectly claiming that if a frog is placed in slowly heated water it will not perceive the danger and be cooked to death. However, some 19th-century experiments suggested that the underlying premise is true, provided the heating is sufficiently gradual.
• Due to the fairy tale of The Frog Prince frogs are often portrayed as princes in disguise.
  • Examples: Puddocky, The Frog Prince, The Princess and the Frog

Snakes

File:Thor und die Midgardsschlange.jpg

The Midgard Serpent in Norse mythology is an example of a snake being portrayed as an evil monster.

• The evil or untrustworthy snake
  • Throughout history and in almost every country humans have feared snakes because they are either venomous or constrictors.
  • In Judeo-Christian religious traditions the snake earned its stereotypical image due to its depiction in the Book of Genesis where the serpent deceives Adam and Eve into the first sin. As implied in the text the snake was actually Satan in disguise. Because of their seductive image snakes are often portrayed to be sly hypnotists.
  • Examples of evil snakes: Nag, Nagaina and Karait from Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, Kaa (in Disney's The Jungle Book), Sir Hiss, Cy Sly the python in Ovide and the Gang, Nagini
  • Exceptions: Adder in The Animals of Farthing Wood and Kaa in The Jungle Book (Rudyard Kipling's original book); both of them, while disturbing to other characters, prove to be helpful allies.
  • Monstrous and often gigantic snakes and serpents are also prevalent in many ancient myths and legends: Bakunawa, the Feathered Serpent, the Midgard Serpent, the Rainbow Serpent, the Hoop snake, the Lernaean Hydra, Nāga, Tsuchinoko, Yamata no Orochi Some are half-woman like Echidna, Medusa and Madame White Snake. Others are dragons.
  • Vicious snakes are also popular in horror movies.
  • Examples: Venom, Snakes on a Plane, Anaconda
• The cobra who is hypnotized by a snakecharmer
  • In India snakecharmers often play a flute (named a pungi) while a cobra rises out of a basket as if it is mezmerized by the music. This is a misconception, since snakes have no outer ears that would enable them to hear the music. In reality they just instinctively follow the movement of the flute.

Turtles and tortoises

• The patient or slow-witted turtle/tortoise
  • The tortoise in The Tortoise and the Hare, Cecil Turtle, Verne from Over the Hedge, the composition "The Tortoise" from Camille Saint-Saëns' The Carnival of the Animals is an adaption of Jacques Offenbach's Can-Can only played much, much slower.
• A rare example of tortoises who are swift and energetic are the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
• Tortoises are also frequently depicted as if they can remove their shield like a piece of clothing, which has no basis in reality.

Fish and sea mammals

Dolphins

• The joyful and heroic dolphin.
  • Examples: Flipper, Ecco the Dolphin

Goldfish

• The clever goldfish
  • Examples: Cleo from Pinocchio, Dennis from Stanley
• The forgetful goldfish
  • This is based on the idea that the goldfish has only a three-second memory, which is an urban legend. It is much longer, counted in months.
  • Examples: Darwin from The Amazing World of Gumball

Orcas

• The vicious, ravenous, merciless orca
  • Examples: Orca: The Killer Whale, Camu from the Angry Beavers episode "Moby Dopes", Buster from Kenny the Shark
• The powerful, majestic orca
  • Examples: Free Willy, Moby Lick from Street Sharks, Spot from The Little Mermaid
  • Orcas are often considered the most formidable and respected hunters of the sea, feared even by great white sharks.

Piranhas

• The gluttonous piranha
  • These fish are often portrayed as if they eat anything thrown into the water they swim in. Though piranhas are notorious for this behaviour, studies have proven that they don't always attack creatures in the water straight away.
  • Examples: Piranha (1978 film), the piranhas in You Only Live Twice.

Sharks

• The evil or bloodthirsty shark
  • Sharks have often been portrayed as monsters who will immediately attack anything that swims in their vicinity. Contrary to popular belief, only a few sharks are dangerous to humans. Out of more than 470 species, only four have been involved in a significant number of fatal, unprovoked attacks on humans: the great white, oceanic whitetip, tiger, and bull sharks. These sharks are large, powerful predators, and may sometimes attack and kill people. However, even then, shark attacks on humans are extremely rare. The average number of fatalities worldwide per year between 2001 and 2006 from unprovoked shark attacks is 4.3.
  • Examples: Watson and the Shark, The Gulf Stream, Live and Let Die, The Spy Who Loved Me, For Your Eyes Only, Licence to Kill, Jaws, Deep Blue Sea, The Reef, Sharktopus, King Shark, Monster Shark, Misterjaw, Samebito, Mega Shark Versus Crocosaurus...
  • Subversions of the "evil shark" stereotype are Kenny the Shark, Jabberjaw, Street Sharks, Sherman's Lagoon, Lenny from Shark Tale, Sharky in Sharky & George and Bruce, Chum and Anchor, the three sharks from Finding Nemo, who try to swear off eating fish.
  • In Hawaiian mythology sharks were revered as gods, with Kamohoalii and Pele as well known examples. In Fijian mythology Dakuwaqa was also a shark-god.
• Sharks are often thought to be immune to disease, especially cancer. However, this is an urban legend. Both diseases and parasites affect sharks. The evidence that sharks are at least resistant to cancer and disease is mostly anecdotal and there have been few, if any, scientific or statistical studies that show sharks to have heightened immunity to disease.

Invertebrates

Ants

• The diligent ant
  • This stems mainly from a fable, The Ant and the Grasshopper, in which the ant works hard to prepare for the winter while the grasshopper wastes the summer and autumn having fun, only to have to beg food from the ant or starve.
  • Examples: The Ant and the Aardvark, in which the ant is often busy working.
• The militant ant
  • Ants, like many animals that form colonies or hives, are known for working together like an army. Some popular culture stories portray ants as military soldiers.
  • Example: the ants from Antz
• The thieving/bothersome ant
  • Ants are often portrayed stealing food from picnics, kitchens, etc., as they do in real life. Examples can be found in many cartoons, like the 1955 Tom and Jerry cartoon Pup on a Picnic and Garfield and Friends.

Bees

• Bees are often confused with wasps, despite bees being smaller and only able to sting once.
• The workaholic bee
  • Bees are usually cast as "good" characters as opposed to wasps. This image may be derived from the fact that bees are popularly associated with spring, fertilisation of flowers and making honey. See also the birds and the bees.
  • Examples of heroic bees: Maya the Bee, Billy the Bee, Buzzy Bee, Jollibee, Spike the Bee in "Donald Duck", Hutch the Honeybee, Pinobee, Charmy in Sonic the Hedgehog, Barry B. Benson
• Since bees are able to sting people they are sometimes portrayed as nuisances, pests, villains or monsters. Killer bees have also fed this image.
  • Examples: The Deadly Bees, The Swarm, Swarm, Royal Jelly

Butterflies

• The beautiful, graceful, peaceful butterfly
  • Butterflies are one of the few insects depicted as beautiful, rather than disgusting and/or repulsive. This image is derived from their often colourful wings and the fact that they are light and fragile creatures.^{[citation needed]}

Crickets and grasshoppers

• Crickets and grasshoppers look very similar and because of this they are often confused with each other.
• The violin playing cricket/grasshopper
  • Male crickets are known for the chirping sound they make. In some cultures this sound is seen as a sign of good luck, while in other cultures it is associated with bad luck. Some cartoons depict crickets as violinists because the movements they make to produce their chirping sound resemble someone playing a violin.
  • Examples: The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden, the grasshopper in the Disney cartoon The Grasshopper and the Ants and in Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach.
• The lazy/carefree grasshopper
  • This stems mainly from a fable, The Ant and the Grasshopper, in which the ant works hard to prepare for the winter while the grasshopper wastes the summer and autumn having fun, only to have to beg for food from the ant or starve. For this reason, grasshoppers are also sometimes characterized as social parasites (as in the Pixar movie A Bug's Life).
  • An exception is the Old-Green-Grasshopper in Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach, who is portrayed as a well-mannered gentleman and musician. Similarly, the Humbug from The Phantom Tollbooth.

Crustaceans

• The sideways walking crab
  • Crabs typically walk sideways (a behaviour which coined the word crabwise). This is because of the articulation of the legs which makes a sidelong gait more efficient. However, some crabs walk forwards or backwards, including raninids, Libinia emarginata and Mictyris platycheles.

Flies

• The filthy housefly
  • Since flies feed on garbage and excrement their feet carry bacteria around. This is why humans widely regard them as pests.
  • Flies are often casts as antagonists, because they are so associated with repulsiveness.^{[citation needed]} Example: The Fly (adapted into film twice as The Fly (1958) and The Fly (1986)), the fly in Meet the Feebles is a tabloid journalist, Baxter Stockman
  • Examples: Freddy the Fearless Fly, Louie the Fly, Hubert and Takako, The Spider and the Fly, Zipper the Fly, Maggie Pesky...
• Houseflies are often believed to have an average lifespan of 24 hours. While adults of some species of mayflies do, they can actually live up to 20 to 30 days. However, a housefly maggot will hatch within 24 hours of being laid.

Ladybugs

• Ladybugs are always depicted as female in popular culture. This is a very old association. Though historically many European languages referenced Freyja, the fertility goddess of Norse mythology, in the names, the Virgin Mary has now largely supplanted her, so that, for example, "freyjuhœna" (Old Norse) and "Frouehenge" have been changed into "marihøne" (Norwegian) and "Marienkäfer" (German), which corresponds with "Our Lady's bird". This also explains with it is one of the few insects associated with beauty, luck, peace and tranquility, making it a popular logo and mascot.
  • Examples: The ladybirds in the songs Ladybird, Ladybird and "Mala Biedroneczka" are described as a mother with children. The ladybug in James and the Giant Peach is a motherly character. Cococinel in the 1990s animated series of the same name is female and Ferda Mravenec ("Ferdy the Ant")'s partner is also a ladybug.

Mantises

• The wise, religious mantis monk. This stereotype is derived from the term praying mantis, as the insect's standard posture resembles prayer.
  • Mantis from Kung Fu Panda.
  • Manny from A Bug's Life.
• The sinister, menacing and/or evil mantis.
  • The She-Mantis in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Teacher's Pet"
  • Queen Bakrakra/Katheter in Insektors
  • The mantis briefly seen in Antz
  • The Deadly Mantis
  • Zorak

Spiders

• The evil, venomous spider
  • Spiders often frighten people due to their appearance. Arachnophobia is one of the most common phobias. However, spiders are important in the ecosystem as they eat insects which humans consider to be pests. Only a few species of spiders are dangerous to people. Spiders will only bite humans in self-defense, and few produce worse effects than a mosquito bite or bee-sting. Most of those with medically serious bites, such as recluse spiders and widow spiders, would rather flee and bite only when trapped, although this can easily arise by accident. Funnel web spiders' defensive tactics include fang display and their venom, although they rarely inject much, has resulted in 13 known human deaths over 50 years. They have been deemed to be the world's most dangerous spiders on clinical and venom toxicity grounds, though this claim has also been attributed to the Brazilian wandering spider, due to much more frequent accidents.
  • Examples of spiders as antagonists and/or scares: The Spider and the Fly, Ungoliant, Kingdom of the Spiders, Thekla in Maya the Bee, The Spider Bite urban legend... The Greek mythological character Arachne was transformed into a spider as a punishment. The spider in Little Miss Muffet scares Miss Muffet away. Peter Parker in Spider-Man gained his powers due to a spider-bite.
  • In horror stories the giant spider is a popular monster, for instance: Tsuchigumo, The Black Spider, Earth vs. the Spider, Shelob, Atlach-Nacha, Tarantula, The Shooting Star, Aragog, The Giant Spider Invasion, Eight Legged Freaks, Lolth, ...
  • Rare examples of a positively depicted spider include: Legend of the Christmas Spider, Iktomi, The Spider Grandmother, Areop-Enap, Anansi, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Charlotte A. Cavatica from Charlotte's Web, Spider, and Miss Spider from James and the Giant Peach.
• The diligent, persistent spider.
  • According to legend, the Scottish king Robert the Bruce once took refuge in a cave on Rathlin Island, where he witnessed a spider continuously failing to climb its silken thread to its web until he eventually succeeded. This motivated him to join the battle again, which he eventually won.
• Spiders are also often falsely described as insects. In reality they are arachnids.

Octopus

File:Colossal octopus by Pierre Denys de Montfort.jpg

Depiction of a gigantic octopus by Pierre Dénys de Montfort, 1801

• The man-eating monstrous gigantic octopus which attacks and destroys ships.
  • The gigantic octopus has been a staple of sea folklore for centuries and has been featured in tales like The Kraken, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Mega Shark Versus Giant Octopus
• Octopuses are also often portrayed as surly, hot-tempered and vengeful.^{[citation needed]}
  • Many propaganda posters often portray persons or ideologies as an octopus sitting on a globe spreading its tentacles to take over the entire world.
• In Japanese culture octopuses are also associated with tentacle rape.^{[citation needed]}
  • Examples: The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife by Hokusai.

Termites

• The destructive termite
  • Because of the termite's reputation of eating wood and wrecking homes and buildings, which is greatly exaggerated in cartoons.

Wasps

• The wanton and vicious wasp
  • Since wasps are able to sting humans they are considered to be pests.
  • The word "waspish" refers to comments with the intention to insult somebody.
  • The wasp is also a popular horror monster.
  • Examples: The Food of the Gods and How It Came to Earth, The Wasp Woman
• A wasp waist is associated with beautiful female silhouettes.

Worms

• Annelids, particularly Earthworms (and by conflation maggots, which few laypersons recognize as being kin to insects rather than to actual worms), are often regarded as "the lowest of the low", and popular culture references to them will usually reflect this.
  • Example: Grima Wormtongue in The Lord of the Rings.
• Much like snakes, worms have often been cast as huge dragonlike monsters.
  • Examples: The Lambton Worm, the Sockburn Worm, the Worm of Linton, the Laidly Worm of Spindleston Heugh, the Mongolian Death Worm, The Lair of the White Worm, the Sandworm in "Dune", Space slugs, Graboids, Mr. Mind
• In children's stories worms are often portrayed as tiny, feeble, sympathetic sidekicks.
  • Examples: Lowly Worm, Slimey the Worm, Quentin in Ollie and Quentin, Earthworm Jim, Wormmon from Digimon
• Bookworms are always portrayed as little worms with glasses who carry books in one arm. This is based on the expression "bookworm" to describe a bibliophile.
  • Examples: Bookworm in "Tiny Toon Adventures"
• Earth worms are often believed to become two worms when cut in half. However, only a limited number of earthworm species are capable of anterior regeneration. When such earthworms are bisected, only the front half of the worm (where the mouth is located) can feed and survive, while the other half dies. Species of the planarian flatworms actually do become two new planarians when bisected or split down the middle.

See also

• Anthropocentrism
• Anthropopathy
• Humanoid
• Kemono
• Moe anthropomorphism
• National personification
• Zoomorphism