“Primitive” to whom? And for whom? Fictional similarities and the politics of pseudomorphism

Abstract

This article offers a philosophical interpretation of primitivism in Western art as a form of pseudomorphism, i.e. a false resemblance that emerges through comparative visual strategies. Drawing on the aesthetic tradition of analogy and montage, the paper frames primitivism not merely as a stylistic trend but as an aesthetic dispositive in the Foucauldian sense: a structure of relations that produces meaning through juxtaposition. The analysis foregrounds how primitivism relies on the constructed opposition between modern and so-called “primitive” forms, revealing the latter as a product of the comparison itself. While primitivism has been critiqued for its colonialist and ethnocentric underpinnings, this study also examines its appropriation within feminist and activist practices. Through American case studies, the article explores how primitivism has operated both as an instrument of domination and as a means of resistance, recasting it as a politically ambivalent phenomenon shaped by pseudomorphic logic.