Anthropomorphism/ 9 Keys to Anthropomorphic Themes and Symbolism
This Post is all about Anthropomorphic Themes and Symbolisim
Today we’re going to discuss how to use Anthropomorphic Themes and Symbolism! Here are 9 Keys to Anthropomorphic themes and symbolism. These points are sort of a summarization of the past three posts. Without further ado, let’s get into these 9 Keys!
Personification:
Anthropomorphism is a form of personification. Personification is the use of figurative language to represent humanlike characteristics in a nonhuman thing. It is a technique commonly used with non-human things displaying literal human behaviors and traits. This is done to make said things more relatable to us; think referring to a ship as “she” or giving a caboose “memories” of the clacking of the rail as the fire that consumes her crackles and pops. Anthropomorphism takes things a little bit further by giving the nonhuman thing the capability of human behavior; take the beloved characters from Winnie the Pooh or Charlotte’s Web for example.
Empathetic Connection:
Anthropomorphism allows us to understand and share the feelings of another involving activities that are not human. We are given the opportunity to feel a deeper, emotional connection by the humanization of animals, or other objects—physically or otherwise—that ultimately lead us to a truer connection with the characters.
Reflecting Human Nature:
Anthropomorphism is a wonderful tool for exploring the natural thoughts, feelings, and actions of humans, not only as a whole, but also in specific terms. As we talked about earlier, you can pull from behaviors species have naturally and use them to magnify certain aspects of the human condition.
Cultural Symbolism:
Tying into Point number 3, Anthropomorphism has rich roots and involvement in cultural symbolism. Many cultures use Fables, Mythologies, and Folklore, utilizing anthropomorphic animals as a vehicle to express defined behaviors and moral lessons. Study some Fables, Mythology, and Folklore of various cultures, and focus in on how anthropomorphism is used. These types of stories are excellent references and are great sources of inspiration.
Metaphor and Allegory:
Anthropomorphic characters thrive on metaphor and allegory A metaphor is a comparison between things that are unrelated An allegory is a story using symbols to convey a hidden meaning. Simple examples—referenced before—include a fox representing craftiness or cleverness, a wolf representing cunning and manipulation, and a lion majesty and courage.
Societal Reflection and Observation:
Anthropomorphism is a great tool to use to comment on social norms, orders, and society. How do stories that we read directly reflect the values and beliefs of our culture? Again, this connects to previous points: look through real species and behaviors of the species you use, and if applicable, use such things to cast back on society and ethnic observations.
Artistic Expression:
Anthropomorphism is often a visual medium, and thus why it’s popular with artists, in comics, or films, thanks to the visual creativity and flexibility it provides.
Children’s Literature and Entertainment:
Anthropomorphism is commonly—and most famously—used in children’s literature and entertainment because of its’ accessibility, visual appeal, and relatability. Anthropomorphic animals are often used for simplifying complex concepts for younger audiences, and adults love it as well.
Psychological Appeal:
Anthropomorphism taps into our innate tendency to humanize living things in an effort to understand them. We tend to project feelings, emotions, motivations, and other such factors onto non-human things in order to try and understand them better. Humans naturally anthropomorphize things by default. Hence, it is one of the oldest literary and storytelling devices in the entirety of human history.
Let’s wrap this up and review everything quickly!
Key # 1 Personification:
Think of say Lumiere and Cogsworth, the talking candlestick and clock from Beauty and the Beast. They are delightful examples of using figurative language to represent humanlike traits in a nonhuman object.
Key #2 Empathetic Connection:
We all cried for Bambi when his mother was shot to death, felt utter horror when Mufasa was murdered by Scar, and felt delightful butterflies in our stomachs when Lady and the Tramp had their first kiss via a piece of spaghetti. That’s empathy.
Key #3 Reflecting Human Nature:
Disney’s Zootopia is a fantastic example of using anthropomorphism to partake in a fictional world reflecting human nature, using species’ stereotypes in smart ways to draw parallels to human behavior. We can feel love, sadness, terror, and maybe even get to understand ourselves better through these experiences.
Key #4 Cultural Symbolism:
Cultural symbolism is perhaps the most classic form of anthropomorphism. An example is a story that my father always likes to tell about The Fox and the Scorpion. Long story short, the two animals need to cross a river, and the scorpion hitches a ride on the fox’s back, despite the latter’s protest; the fox cites the scorpion’s very nature to sting things, implying the scorpion will kill them both. The scorpion vehemently denies that he will do anything of the sort. The fox relents and allows the scorpion to ride on his back, only for the fox’s fears to prove true: he is stung by the scorpion on reflex, and the scorpion denies responsibility for his actions by stating, “It’s my nature!” In other words, although the scorpion and fox are humanized internally—not externally—their core, real-life natures are kept intact.
Key #5 Metaphor and Allegory:
Animal Farm and The Three Little Pigs are fantastic examples of allegory, the first being a critique of authoritarian governments—which, given what’s going on in today’s political world, should be required reading by everyone with a brain. The Three Pigs is a story of deceptive disguise, in other words, a wolf in sheeps clothing.
Key #6 Societal Reflection and Observation:
You can use a pack of wolves to showcase a family unit, or a large pride of lions to showcase not only the nuclear family, but extended family as well.
Key #7 Artistic Expression:
Just look at any cartoon throughout the 80’s and 90’s: anthropomorphic characters were everywhere, and not just in cartoons, but comics as well. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a perfect example. “ Kowabunga!” Or, go onto any art website today, and the front page will be flooded with anthropomorphic art—it’s everywhere in the artistic sphere.
Key #8 Children’s Lit and Entertainment:
Media such as Kung Fu Panda and the Redwall book series are excellent examples of anthropomorphic children’s entertainment and literature. Children find the anthropomorphic designs of the characters naturally appealing, and thus can relate; they easily fantasize about doing all the Kung Fu moves and punches and kicks and immerse themselves safely in the setting of an Abbey in the countryside of Medieval England.
Key #9 Psychological Appeal:
This post was all about the nine keys to Anthropomorphic Themes and Symbolism. Anthropomorphic Themes and Symbolism are a great way to bring depth, complexity, relatability, and connection that can, if properly integrated, enrich your world and creativity like nothing else! These are just nine simple keys to chew on, and there are more on the way!
Was there any one key that jumped out at you? Or one you would like to discuss in more depth? Let me know down in the comments!
