It is a universal tendency to assign or impute human emotional, cognitive, and behavioral qualities to nonhuman creatures and things. Owls are “wise.” Swollen rivers are “raging” and “angry.” ...

The act of giving human traits to animals and objects Ferrantraite / Getty Images Anthropomorphism, or anthropomorphization, describes a behavior in which you give human traits to things that aren't ...

After remaining closed for nearly two years, Houghton Library premiered its exhibition “Animals Are Us” — which explores the use of animal anthropomorphism in literature — to the public this semester.

I have learned that anthropomorphism is a deeply suspect word, used to defend cruelty to creatures unable to speak and defend themselves against human exploitation. –Sir Brian May, founding member of ...