In popular cultures, life forms —especially intelligent life forms— that are of extraterrestrial origin, i.e. not coming from the Earth are referred to collectively as aliens.
This usage is anthropocentric; the term is used to refer to non-human civilizations even in the context of their own native habitats. This may be seen as a reversion to the classic meaning of "alien" (see foreigner) as referring to an "other".
The fictionalization of extrat...
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In popular cultures, life forms —especially intelligent life forms— that are of extraterrestrial origin, i.e. not coming from the Earth are referred to collectively as aliens.
This usage is anthropocentric; the term is used to refer to non-human civilizations even in the context of their own native habitats. This may be seen as a reversion to the classic meaning of "alien" (see foreigner) as referring to an "other".
The fictionalization of extraterrestrial life occurred before the 20th century. The protagonist of the 10th-century Japanese narrative, The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, was a hime (princess) from the Moon who is sent to Earth for safety during a celestial war, and is found and raised by a bamboo cutter in Japan. She is later taken back to the Moon by her real extraterrestrial family. A manuscript illustration depicts a round flying machine similar to a flying saucer. At around the same time, "The Adventures of Bulukiya", a medieval Arabic tale from the One Thousand and One...
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