therianthropism

English

Noun

therianthropism (uncountable)

1. The representation of deities in combined human and animal form.
   • 1993, Steve Baker, Picturing the Beast: Animals, Identity, and Representation, page 224:

     Therianthropism, as described in my chapter on the rhetoric of animality, appears only to operate successfully when used as a means of discrediting or demeaning other people. In showing them partly in animal form (or with animal characteristics or attributes), therianthropism does pictorial violence - symbolic violence - to the image of one's rivals or opponents.

Related terms

• therianthrope
• therianthropic
• therianthropy