Filozofija i drustvo 2010 Volume 21, Issue 2, Pages: 71-95
https://doi.org/10.2298/FID1002071B
Full text ( 117 KB)
Context of culture: Critique of the primitive mind
Božilović Nikola
The author of this paper has the intention to reach the new meaning and sense
of the primitive mentality by analyzing it in early social communities. He
also wants to point out the possible reflections of the spirit and
consciousness of our ancestors on us, here and now. The first part of the
paper is dedicated to a critical deliberation on anthropological conflicts
which have arisen concerning the reasoning power of the so-called primitives.
The crucial question lies in the following: Is the difference between the
“primitive” and the “civilized” mentality fundamental or is it possible only
to a certain degree. The author takes the notion of primitive mentality
through time and points to the medieval understandings, which are occupied by
teratological themes, then to the renaissance comprehension, which relies on
the first experiential observations, and, finally, to the enlightenment ideas
of exotic peoples out of which the myth of “the good savage” is born. The
nineteenth and twentieth centuries introduce the notions of “people’s
character” and “national spirit”. The opinions are polarized, on the one hand
of ethnocentrism, carried by the prejudice of people and ethnic groups and,
on the other hand, of cultural relativism, based on the understanding and
appreciation of cultural differences. In the end, the author also recognizes
the modern primitive man, one who is not ready to deal with the challenges of
his age. The modern primitive recalls the spirits of the past, the surviving
and anachronic models of behavior, unaware of the fact that these are the
same models that he has ascribed to “savages”. However, while such thinking
and acting was justified by the cultural level at which our ancestors had
lived, the mental frame of the contemporary primitives is significantly in
contrast with the high level of civilization development.
Keywords: Primitive mentality, civilization, prejudice, stereotypes, ethnocentrism, xenophobia, cultural relativism, the Balkans