Final answer:
The attribution of human characteristics to animals or objects is known as personification, a literary tool that reflects the complex relationships humans have with the natural world. Anthropomorphism is similar, attributing human behaviors to non-humans. These concepts highlight the anthropocentric view and the deep connections and interdependencies between humans and animals.
Step-by-step explanation:
Giving an object or animal human feelings, thoughts, attitudes, or actions is called personification. Personification is a literary device used to give human qualities to non-human things such as animals or objects for the purpose of imagery. For example, saying "the trees' branches reached towards the sun like arms" is an instance of personification.
Similarly, anthropomorphism is the attribution of human behaviors or attributes to a nonhuman entity, like when the daffodils in Wordsworth's "I wandered lonely as a cloud" are described as 'dancing,' which is a distinctly human behavior. Both personification and anthropomorphism are used to create a more vivid and relatable story or poem by bringing human elements into non-human contexts.
These literary tools are not just limited to the realms of literature and art; they reflect deep and complex relationships humans have with the natural world. Yi-Fu Tuan discusses how pets, for instance, have been treated differently across societies, often blending affection with dominance, revealing the emotional connections we often establish with animals, reflecting an anthropocentrism perspective.
Moreover, in subsistence societies, there is a sense of animal empathy, where humans form essential relationships with animals due to their role in survival, often accompanied by beliefs and rituals that underscore this critical interdependence on the human-animal continuum.
The research of anthropologist Pat Shipman suggests that this empathic relationship with animals, particularly dogs, provided humans with an evolutionary advantage. Throughout history and across cultures, animals have been revered, loved, and incorporated into human subsistence, belief systems, and cultures, demonstrating a vast and intricate web of interactions that define human and animal lives.