ABSTRACT

The notion of the primitive is a relatively new phenomenon. Its modern under-

standing would have no relevance before the eighteenth century, when it had a

very different meaning and was known under different names. The currency it

has today is as a result of the development of modern culture and it should be

seen not as something obvious and positive, but as an invention, as a symptom

of crisis, and an attempt to come to terms with the crisis.