To ask if you have an hinterland and if so what is it?

[StevieNicksIsMySpiritAnimal]

How does it manifest its self?

I've seen it mentioned in a few relationship (and Archers!) threads as in "where is her hinterland?" or "he seems to have no hinterland" but Google doesn't define it in those terms so I thought I'd ask for examples.

Perhaps you should define "Hinterland"?

@FraughtwithGin

Perhaps you should define "Hinterland"?

That's what I'm asking as the context in which I've seen it used on MN doesn't seem to fit the dictionary definition and I'm intrigued as I like the word.

Well assuming the use of hinterland is metaphoric, I think it might more-or-less coincide with the Jungian concept of the shadow, in which case we all have one.

Cambridge dictionary definition

I thought this was going to be about the TV series, very dark.

Yes - a metaphor. So the big city areas would be your ego, and the hinterland your shadow. That's how I'd interpret it. I've not heard the word used in any relationship or psychological context though.

The bits of you that people/you find difficult to access?

It usually means someone’s private life / interests. If I refer to someone as lacking a hinterland I mean they’re rather shallow / only interested in work / not a very well rounded character.

I understand it as meaning that someone has an inner life beyond their job and basic day to day existence, a capacity for deeper thought about the big issues of life and perhaps a reasonable high level engagement with high culture.

Dunno whether that’s right - I’ve never actually looked it up, but I’ve heard it used about politicians - where the fact that they’ve written a book about the Weimar Republic, or write piano trios, or publish articles about the reintroduction of the beaver to the Scottish Highlands is evidence that they have a “hinterland”.

Yes, that's what I thought it meant but couldn't find anything when I googled.

So, what is your hinterland?

I’m still not sure whether it’s a hidden inner world? Personal passions? Or just being a deep thinker? I’m intrigued regardless and hoping I am not too lacking in hinterland? Is this something to be worked on or is it innate?

To put it another way, it’s about having more than one dimension to your life - whether that’s family, a big circle of friends, intellectual pursuits, hobbies, a side-hustle ... it can be any of those things. It’s about having a rich, full, rewarding and varied life.

Another context for example would be if I was explaining why I didn’t want to date someone and I said that I felt they lacked a hinterland - I would mean that they didn’t have enough interests and pursuits of their own. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, etc.

Hmm, I've never hear that applied to life/ personality. To me, hinterland implies something dark or hidden and a bit bleak, so I'd be thinking along the lines of skeletons in the closet, but I see that might not be the case.

Exactly what CallforHecate said. Fiction where the characters have no hinterland is very dull, just basic storytelling.

Interesting that it’s hard to google a good explanation of this term though

And my hinterland ignoring work and family would include football, nature, meditation, fast cars and reading: not in equal measures though

I'd always thought it was used in personal terms up describe your non curricula interests and passions. In which case mine is arts, culture and history. I like researching how the culture and arts reflected and represented the social and political mores of the time

@CallforHecate

It usually means someone’s private life / interests. If I refer to someone as lacking a hinterland I mean they’re rather shallow / only interested in work / not a very well rounded character.

Yep this is how I’ve heard it used

To put it another way, it’s about having more than one dimension to your life - whether that’s family, a big circle of friends

See, I would have thought it was having something other than family and friends. Some kind of inner life that adds depth and meaning outside of relationships with others.

I'd say my brother has no hinterland. Lovely chap, good dad, sociable but no interests other than Netflix and football. I'm not saying that in a sneery way, just interested in where people gain fulfillment and strength other than from their social connections.

I've got a back garden, does that count?

@StevieNicksIsMySpiritAnimal it depends on the context. If you’re talking about someone at work then the fact that they spend a lot of their spare time on family and friends is hinterland - I’d use it to describe someone who’s a dedicated family man, as opposed to one of those guys who lives for work and always seems to have an excuse to stay late in the office and not to go home early. The latter is someone who’s not making the effort to build up a hinterland - they’re one dimensional, they live for work. If you’re talking about someone in your family then perhaps it’s the other way round - they see work as part of their hinterland!

Interesting how meanings change over time - when I studied Geography (several hundred years ago), a hinterland was the area of economic activity that served a port city on a river or coast. For coastal ports it would be a fan shaped area inland where there was an economic relationship with the port. Until this thread I'd never come across an interpretation relating to an individual person. Interesting.

It’s not a change in the meaning exactly - it’s a metaphorical use taken from the geographical term.

AIBU to think that typing ‘an’ hinterland is trying a bit too hard?

@jaundicedoutlook

AIBU to think that typing ‘an’ hinterland is trying a bit too hard?

Not sure what your point is? Are you just being a knob pointing out a typo/grammatical error?

The kind of person who makes snotty remarks about other people’s spelling and grammar mistakes tends to lack a hinterland, in my experience 😂