The Myth of the Noble Savage
The myth of the Noble Savage What is the myth of the Noble Savage? The noble savage is a s tereotypical fictional character who symbolize the notion of the indigene (= not civilized, therefore, not "corrupted" by civilization) consequently, he embodies the humanity's instinctive purity. 1776 performance of Thomas Southerne's Oroonoko. Even if it has been mostly used in fiction and philosophy, it appeared considerably in anthropological researches. Historical chronology The first employment of the notion of "noble savage" borned in an english poem. It was designed for a "wild beast", a man above of the others. It's Rousseau who took back the term to designate a black person in a racist way, to use it as a justification for slavery. Explanation T he claim that Rousseau created the myth was made by one of the nineteenth century's most notorious racists to give weight to his belief in the notion of 'inferior' ra