4/4/2016

PrimitivecultureWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Primitiveculture
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Thisarticleneeds
additionalcitations
forverification.Please
helpimprovethis
articlebyaddingcitationsto
reliablesources.
Unsourcedmaterialmay
bechallengedand
removed.(October2014)
Inolderanthropologytextsanddiscussions,theterm"primitiveculture"referstoasocietybelievedto
lackcultural,technological,oreconomicsophisticationordevelopment.Forinstance,aculturethatlacks
awrittenlanguagemightbeconsideredlessculturallysophisticatedthancultureswithwritingsystems
orahuntergatherersocietymightbeconsideredlessdevelopedthananindustrialcapitalistsociety.
Whilebecominglesspoliticallycorrect,someWesternauthors,suchasanthropologistsandhistorians,
usedittodescribepreindustrialindigenouscultures.Historically,assigning"primitive"tootherpeople
hasbeenusedtojustifyconqueringthem.
ItisalsothetitleofabookbyEdwardBurnettTylor,inwhichhedefinesreligionasanimism,which,in
turn,hedefinesbyreferencetocontemporaryindigenousandotherreligiousdataasbeliefinspirits.
Anotherdefiningcharacteristicofprimitiveculturesisagreateramountofleisuretimethaninmore
complexsocieties.[1]

Seealso

[ edit ]

Anarchoprimitivism
Civilization
Ethnology
Negrito
Neolithic
Noblesavage
Paleolithic
PierreClastres
Politicalcorrectness
Primitivecommunism
Primitivism
Shiftingcultivation
Uncontactedpeoples
Whiteman'sburden

Notes

[ edit ]

1.^Farb,Peter(1968).Man'sRisetoCivilizationAsShownbytheIndiansofNorthAmericafromPrimeval
TimestotheComingoftheIndustrialState.NewYorkCity:E.P.Dutton.p.28.LCCE77.F36
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primitive_culture

."Despitethe
1/2

4/4/2016

PrimitivecultureWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

theoriestraditionallytaughtinhighschoolsocialstudies,thetruthis:themoreprimitivethesociety,themore
leisureditswayoflife."

Furtherreading

[ edit ]

StanleyDiamond,InSearchofthePrimitive,TransactionPublishers,U.S.1987,ISBN087855582
X
AdamKuper,TheReinventionofPrimitiveSociety.TransformationsofaMyth,Taylor&FrancisLtd.
2005,ISBN0415357616
JosephCampbell,TheMasksofGod:PrimitiveMythology,Viking,1959reissuedbyPenguin,
1991ISBN9780140194432
JosephCampbell,TheHistoricalAtlasofWorldMythology,vols.IandII,HarperandRow1988,
1989.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primitive_culture

2/2