Editing Elf (section)

=== Reality and perception ===

Elves have in many times and places been believed to be real beings.{{sfnp|Hall|2007|pp=8–9}} Where enough people have believed in the reality of elves that those beliefs then had real effects in the world, they can be understood as part of people's [[worldview]], and as a [[social reality]]: a thing which, like the exchange value of a dollar bill or the sense of pride stirred up by a national flag, is real because of people's beliefs rather than as an objective reality.{{sfnp|Hall|2007|pp=8–9}} Accordingly, beliefs about elves and their social functions have varied over time and space.<ref>{{harvp|Jakobsson|2006}}; {{harvp|Jakobsson|2015}}; {{harvp|Shippey|2005}}; {{harvp|Hall|2007|pp=16–17, 230–231}}; {{harvp|Gunnell|2007}}.</ref> Even in the twenty-first century, fantasy stories about elves have been argued both to reflect and to shape their audiences' understanding of the real world.<ref name="Poor">{{Cite journal|last=Poor|first=Nathaniel |s2cid=147432832|date=September 2012|title=Digital Elves as a Racial Other in Video Games: Acknowledgment and Avoidance|journal=Games and Culture|volume=7|issue=5|pages=375–396 |doi=10.1177/1555412012454224}}</ref>{{sfnp|Bergman|2011|pp=215–29}} Over time, people have attempted to [[Demythologization|demythologise]] or [[Rationalization (sociology)|rationalise]] beliefs in elves in various ways.{{sfnp|Hall|2007|pp=6–9}}