Mundane Explained

In subcultural 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.^[1] The term first came into use in science fiction fandom to refer, sometimes deprecatingly, to non-fans; this use of the term antedates 1955.^[2]

Etymology

Mundane came originally from the Latin mundus, meaning ordinary and worldly as opposed to spiritual, and has been in use in English since the 15th century.^[3]

In popular culture

Some Western cultural examples include:

• In Cassandra Clare's book series The Mortal Instruments 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's Xanth novels and Bill Willingham's comic book series Fables (often shortened to "mundies" in the latter).
• In furry fandom, it is used to describe non-furries, or "humans".^[4]
• In historical reenactment groups such as the Society for Creative Anachronism (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.^[5]
  • 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 science fiction fandom, some fans classify all non-fans as "mundanes."^[6]
• In text-based online role-playing games, the term is commonly used to refer to the player as opposed to their character, typically shortened to "mun".
• In the science fiction television series Babylon 5, telepathic 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.^[7]
• In the scope of the software communities of free and open-source software some proponents of the respective movements classify those that do not know enough about their views as "mundanes".
• In the vampire lifestyle 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 or other common tropes of the genre.^[8]

See also

• Muggle
• Plain vanilla
• Populism
• Reactionary
• Reform movement
• Revival movement
• Underground culture

References

1. Web site: brown, rich . Dr. Gafia's Fan Terms.
2. Book: Coppa, Francesca . Fan Fiction and Fan Communities in the Age of the Internet . . 2006 . 978-0-7864-2640-9 . Hellekson . Karen . Karen Hellekson . Jefferson, North Carolina . 41–59 . A Brief History of Media Fandom . Francesca Coppa . Busse . Kristina . Kristina Busse.
3. Web site: Merriam- Webster Dictionary and Thesaurus . 6 December 2016 . Merriam- Webster Dictionary and Thesaurus . Merriam-Webster.
4. Web site: Simo . The New Furry's Dictionary.
5. Web site: The Fanfiction Glossary. 22 August 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080822041856/http://www.subreality.com/glossary/terms.htm. 22 August 2008.
6. Web site: Cherryh . C. J. . C. J. Cherryh . FIAWOL and All That .
7. Web site: Message by J. Michael Straczynski on Byron's attitude towards "mundanes" in Babylon 5 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070311023905/http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/find/CompuServe/cs98-02/17.html . 11 March 2007.
8. Web site: January 2006 . Geoff Ryman: The Mundane Fantastic: Interview excerpts . 23 September 2007 . Locus.