subcultural A subculture is a group of people within a cultural society that differentiates itself from the values of the conservative, standard or dominant culture to which it belongs, often maintaining some of its founding principles. Subcultures develop ...

and fictional uses, a mundane is a person who does not belong to a particular group, according to the members of that group; the implication is that such persons, lacking imagination, are concerned solely with the mundane: the quotidian and ordinary. The term first came into use in

science fiction fandom Science fiction fandom or SF fandom is a community or fandom of people interested in science fiction in contact with one another based upon that interest. SF fandom has a life of its own, but not much in the way of formal organization (although ...

to refer, sometimes deprecatingly, to non-fans; this use of the term antedates 1955.

Etymology

Mundane came originally from the Latin '' mundus'', meaning ordinary and

worldly The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others talk of a "plu ...

as opposed to spiritual, and has been in use in English since the 15th century.

In popular culture

Some Western cultural examples include: * In

Cassandra Clare Judith Lewis (née Rumelt; born July 27, 1973), better known by her pen name Cassandra Clare, is an American author of young adult fiction, best known for her bestselling series ''The Mortal Instruments''. Personal life Clare was born Judith R ...

's book series ''

The Mortal Instruments ''The Mortal Instruments'' is a series of six young adult fantasy novels written by American author Cassandra Clare, the last of which was published on May 27, 2014. ''The Mortal Instruments'' is chronologically the third series of a planned s ...

'' and '' The Infernal Devices'', humans who were not Shadowhunters nor Downworlders were referred to as "mundanes". * In fantasy literature the term is sometimes used to apply to non- magical people or the non-magical society. It is used in

Piers Anthony Piers Anthony Dillingham Jacob (born August 6, 1934) is an American author in the science fiction and fantasy genres, publishing under the name Piers Anthony. He is best known for his long-running novel series set in the fictional realm of Xan ...

Xanth Xanth ( ), also known as ''The Magic of Xanth'', is a series of fantasy novels by author Piers Anthony. The novels are set in the fantasy world of Xanth, in which magic exists and every human has a magical talent. The books have been noted for th ...

novels and

Bill Willingham William Willingham (born 1956) is an American writer and artist of comics, known for his work on the series '' Elementals'' and ''Fables''. Career William Willingham was born in Fort Belvoir, Virginia. During his father's military career the fam ...

's comic book series ''

Fables Fable is a literary genre defined as a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse (poetry), verse, that features animals, legendary creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature that are Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphized, and that ...

'' (often shortened to "mundies" in the latter). * In

furry fandom The furry fandom is a subculture interested in Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic animal characters. Some examples of anthropomorphic attributes include exhibiting human intelligence and facial expressions, speaking, walking on two legs, and weari ...

, it is used to describe non-furries, or "humans". * In

historical reenactment Historical reenactment (or re-enactment) is an educational entertainment, educational or entertainment activity in which mainly amateur hobbyists and history enthusiasts dress in historical uniforms and follow a plan to recreate aspects of a histor ...

groups such as the

Society for Creative Anachronism The Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) is an international living history group with the aim of studying and recreating mainly Medieval European cultures and their histories before the 17th century. A quip often used within the SCA describes ...

(which originated in science fiction fandom): **'Mundanes', sometimes shortened to just "'danes" (not to be confused with people of Danish descent), is also a term for normal everyday clothes, as opposed to those dressed in historical garb. **Similarly, one's "mundane" name is the legal name one goes by in the outside world. **Some participants classify all non-participants as "mundanes". * In

, some fans classify all non-fans as "mundanes." * In text-based online

role-playing games A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, or abbreviated as RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, eith ...

, the term is commonly used to refer to the player as opposed to their character, typically shortened to "mun". * In the

science fiction television Science fiction first appeared in television programming in the late 1930s, during what is called the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary ...

series ''

Babylon 5 ''Babylon 5'' is an American space opera television series created by writer and producer J. Michael Straczynski, under the Babylonian Productions label, in association with Straczynski's Synthetic Worlds Ltd. and Warner Bros. Domestic Tel ...

'',

telepathic Telepathy () is the purported vicarious transmission of information from one person's mind to another's without using any known human sensory channels or physical interaction. The term was first coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Frederic ...

humans (especially Psi Corps members) classify all non-telepathic humans as "mundanes". The classification is employed mainly, but not solely, by telepathic characters who have telepath-supremacist ideologies (such ideologies being one of the issues dealt with by the series), and was deliberately chosen to mirror the classification in science fiction fandom. * In the scope of the software communities of free and

open-source software Open-source software (OSS) is Software, computer software that is released under a Open-source license, license in which the copyright holder grants users the rights to use, study, change, and Software distribution, distribute the software an ...

some proponents of the respective movements classify those that do not know enough about their views as "mundanes". * In the

vampire lifestyle The vampire lifestyle, also known as the vampire subculture or vampire community (sometimes spelled "vampyre"), is an alternative lifestyle and subculture inspired by the mythology and popular culture surrounding vampires. Participants often i ...

circles the word "mundane" means "non-sanguinarian", although some consider it derogatory. * Mundane science fiction is science fiction that does not make use of

interstellar travel Interstellar travel is the hypothetical travel of spacecraft between star systems. Due to the vast distances between the Solar System and nearby stars, interstellar travel is not practicable with current propulsion technologies. To travel between ...

or other common

trope Trope or tropes may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Trope (cinema), a cinematic convention for conveying a concept * Trope (literature), a figure of speech or common literary device * Trope (music), any of a variety of different things in medi ...

s of the genre.{{Cite web , date=January 2006 , title=Geoff Ryman: The Mundane Fantastic: Interview excerpts , url=http://www.locusmag.com/2006/Issues/01Ryman.html , access-date=23 September 2007 , website= Locus

References

Science fiction terminology Pejorative terms for people

Etymology

In popular culture

See also

References