THE MYTH OF THE NOBLE/GOOD SAVAGE
POST 1: THE MYTH OF THE NOBLE/GOOD SAVAGE
The term "the noble savage" brings us back to the 17th and 18th centuries, when the autochthones and natives embodied the ideal of the intrinsic goodness due to the fact that they were not considered as civilized communities. Therefore indigenes could not have been "corrupted" or depraved by the latent flaws and depravity of civilisation.
This myth takes its origins from John Dryden's heroic play The Conquest of Granada (1672) in which this expression appears for the first time but it only became a concrete concept of ennoblement during the 18th century romanticism with the turn of phrase "nature's gentleman". Centuries later, as this conception is promptly associated to Rousseau's premise about the state of nature, even if he never used this exact words to define human on its essence. And we can also notice that his thesis diverges slightly from this conception because he does not illustrate society as a danger but as a tool to enhance men.
This myth takes its origins from John Dryden's heroic play The Conquest of Granada (1672) in which this expression appears for the first time but it only became a concrete concept of ennoblement during the 18th century romanticism with the turn of phrase "nature's gentleman". Centuries later, as this conception is promptly associated to Rousseau's premise about the state of nature, even if he never used this exact words to define human on its essence. And we can also notice that his thesis diverges slightly from this conception because he does not illustrate society as a danger but as a tool to enhance men.
This stock character and stereotype has reached many fields of the worldwide literature as fiction books or stories, philosophy, novels or even early anthropological studies.
One of the many writers that showed interest in the theory of the humanity's innate goodness was Shaftesbury with is also seen as a proponent of this idea. He used this portrayal of the human nature as an argument to promote a constitutional monarchy and political beliefs in Inquiry Concerning Virtue (1699). Hence, he marked his opposition to Hobbes that tried to demonstrate the exact contrary in Leviathan portraying the state of nature as a danger and "a war of all against all".
This myth has also inspired the cinematographic world we could take as example the movie Avatar (2009) which corresponds almost perfectly to this timeless myth. The story takes place in a futuristic world and narrates the war between a violent, capitalistic and consummative state and a community that could exemplify the myth of the noble savage since they own all types of genuine qualities.
A promising start but it is incomplete, I'm afraid.
ReplyDeleteYou still need to complete your 'classmates' blog list'. Same for 'My teacher's blog'!
ReplyDeletePlease do it ASAP.
OK for the first post but where are the 'pages'?
ReplyDeletePlease add them after creating a 'new gadget' in the 'layout' section of your Blogger dashboard.
LEA
ReplyDeleteBLOG POST 1: The MYTH of the NOBLE/GOOD SAVAGE
--> CONTENT (Questions 1 & 3): 9/10
--> FORM (Question 2, including post design, layout and pictures + language): 7/10
Total: 16/20 Extremely promising. Your first blog post is satisfactory content-wise even though you failed to address the second question (see teacher's blog: "Insert a few pictures of the good/noble savage as it has been represented throughout history. Don'f forget to add captions to images")