Incarnations of Immortality
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
(Difference between revisions)
| Revision as of 10:27, 3 January 2010 Jahsonic (Talk | contribs) ← Previous diff |
Current revision Jahsonic (Talk | contribs) |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
| {{Template}} | {{Template}} | ||
| - | :''[[hybrid]]'' | + | '''''Incarnations of Immortality''''' is the name of an eight-book [[fantasy]] series by [[Piers Anthony]]. The first seven books each focus on one of seven supernatural "offices" ([[Death (personification)|Death]], [[Father Time|Time]], [[Moirae|Fate]], [[Ares|War]], [[Mother Nature|Nature]], [[Satan|Evil]] and [[God|Good]]) in a fictional reality and history parallel to ours, with the exception that society has advanced both [[magic (paranormal)|magic]] and modern technology. The series covers the adventures and struggles of a group of humans, called "[[Incarnation]]s", who hold these [[supernatural]] positions for a certain time. |
| - | '''Anthropomorphism''' is the attribution of uniquely [[human]] characteristics and qualities to [[nonhuman]] beings, [[inanimate|inanimate objects]], or natural or [[supernatural phenomena]]. [[Animal]]s, forces of [[nature]], and unseen or unknown sources of chance are frequent subjects of anthropomorphosis. The term is derived from two [[Greek language|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 [[United States|U.S.]] government began assigning [[hurricane]]s names; initially the names were feminine, and shortly thereafter masculine names were introduced. | ||
| - | ==In literature== | ||
| - | :''main [[Personification]]'' | ||
| - | |||
| - | Anthropomorphism is a well-established device in literature. 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. The Indian books ''[[Panchatantra]]'' (The Five priniciples) and ''[[The Jataka tales]]'' employ anthropomorphized animals to illustrate various principles of life. | ||
| - | |||
| - | Anthropomorphism is commonly employed in books for children, such as those by [[Lewis Carroll]], [[Roald Dahl]], [[Brian Jacques]], [[C.S. Lewis]], and [[Beatrix Potter]]. [[W.V. Awdry|Rev. W. Awdry's]] [[The Railway Series|Railway Series]] depicts steam locomotives with human-like faces and personalities which leads to the popular tv series. | ||
| - | |||
| - | 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 (Discworld)|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 ''[[The Sandman (DC Comics/Vertigo)|Sandman]]'', named [[The Endless (comics)|the Endless]]: [[Destiny (DC Comics)|Destiny]], [[Death (DC Comics)|Death]], [[Dream (DC Comics)|Dream]], [[Destruction (DC Comics)|Destruction]], [[Desire (DC Comics)|Desire]], [[Despair (DC Comics)|Despair]], and [[Delirium (DC Comics)|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. | ||
| - | ==See also== | ||
| - | * [[Figure of speech]] | ||
| - | * [[Talking animal]] | ||
| - | * [[National personification]] | ||
| - | * [[Origins of language]] | ||
| - | * [[List of anthropomorphic personifications]] | ||
| - | * [[Anthropopathy]] | ||
| - | * [[Metaphor]] | ||
| - | * [[Furry Fandom]] | ||
| - | * [[Zoomorphism]] | ||
| - | * [[Pathetic fallacy]] | ||
| - | * [[Anthropocentrism]] | ||
| - | * [[The Twa Corbies]] | ||
| - | * [[Louis Wain]] | ||
| - | * [[Animal cognition]] | ||
| - | * [[Cognitive ethology]] | ||
| - | * [[Fable]] | ||
| - | * [[Android science]] | ||
| - | * [[Kemono]] | ||
| - | * [[Humanoid]] | ||
| - | * [[OS-tan]] | ||
| - | * [[Moé anthropomorphism]] | ||
| - | * [[Uncanny Valley]] | ||
| - | * [[Rhetoric]] | ||
| {{GFDL}} | {{GFDL}} | ||
Current revision
|
Related e |
|
Featured: |
Incarnations of Immortality is the name of an eight-book fantasy series by Piers Anthony. The first seven books each focus on one of seven supernatural "offices" (Death, Time, Fate, War, Nature, Evil and Good) in a fictional reality and history parallel to ours, with the exception that society has advanced both magic and modern technology. The series covers the adventures and struggles of a group of humans, called "Incarnations", who hold these supernatural positions for a certain time.
Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Incarnations of Immortality" 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.
