The noble savage is a myth that originated in ancient Greece and Rome and reached its peak in the 18th century. It portrays primitive cultures as inherently good and uncorrupted by society. However, this concept has no basis in reality and is considered both outdated and racist. Many critics view it as condescending and ironic, considering that many of these cultures were victims of colonization.
A noble savage is someone from a primitive culture who is supposed to be uncorrupted by contact with society. This concept first arose among the ancient Greeks and Romans, with authors such as Pliny and Ovid glorifying the primitive cultures they had contact with, and reached its peak in the 18th century with the primitivism movement. Today, the concept of the noble savage is largely considered a myth that is both outdated and wrong, and the concept is also widely considered to be racist.
Leading proponents of the noble savage concept often drew on the voyage accounts of explorers such as Captain Cook to portray tribal cultures as primitive, simple, and Edenic. The idea that primitive cultures were inherently good and pristine proved popular in an age when people questioned the merits of civilization and the noble savage was glorified in books, plays and music.
According to those who have perpetuated the concept, people in tribal cultures who hadn’t been touched by the complexity of Western civilization had a number of traits in common. Primitive cultures were seen as inherently good, with people naturally innocent, sincere, generous, wholesome, and wise. The champions of the myth also believed that people in primitive cultures lived in harmony with nature and with each other.
There are several problems with the noble wild myth. The first is that it has no basis in reality; many “primitive” cultures have the same problems as Western civilization, including brutality, warfare, mendacity, overexploitation of resources, and selfishness, suggesting that these characteristics may be more innate in human society than goodwill. Captain Cook himself died at the hands of a tribal culture due to a lack of understanding of the intricacies of Hawaiian society.
Many critics also regard the noble wild idea as extremely condescending, as well as racist. Savages were typically depicted with dark skin, primitive features, and simplistic societies, when in reality, tribal cultures come in a range of skin tones and many of them are quite complex. The idealization of tribal cultures is also quite ironic, considering that many of these cultures were victims of colonization; apparently the cult of the noble savage did not extend as far as an active desire to preserve such cultures. The idealization of colonized societies may have arisen in part from a sense of guilt and a desire to distinguish tribal cultures as “other” to further distance the colonists from the colonized.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
