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.