"Little Green Men": Early Representations of Aliens

The article discusses xenological iconography in 19th-century and early 20th-century science fiction literature, with reference to film and press discourses. It explores representations of extraterrestrials as new forms of the natural world (e.g., flora, animals, crystals), the hybridity of beings—featuring both humanoid and animal traits or bodies undergoing evolutionary modifications—as well as colonial associations with terrestrial "otherness" and groups perceived as "savage". The analysis covers various examples of how ideas about life beyond Earth were imagined, along with their cultural contexts—from religious and scientific inspirations, through Europocentric colonial thinking and beliefs in racial and gender superiority, to human-machine hybrids and the dominance of the iconographic type of small gray or green humanoids. The author identifies how different types of visual representations have evolved over time and which ones have proven more enduring in popular culture, remaining present to this day.