Primitivism

The purpose of this paper is to show how primitivism is a construction of the West and to show how this construction has functioned to serve the West’s needs and desires. This objective will be accomplished first, by analyzing the themes inherent in Western primitivism, second, by examing the images and myths associated with the West’s meaning of the primitive, and finally, by comparing and contrasting these themes, myths and images with the contemporary cultural movement called the “modern primitives”.
Themes of escapism and rebelling against modern civilization have been central to the West’s construction of the primitive, and specifically, to the concept of Romantic primitivism. Romantic primitivism, defined as “the idealizing of social simplicity and the world of the noble savage” was first credited to philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau during the 18th century, yet it was conceptualized as early as 2,500 years ago in classical Greece among two groups of people,...