Naivety (also spelled naïvety), naiveness, or naïveté is the state of being naive. It refers to an apparent or actual lack of
experience and sophistication, often describing a neglect of
pragmatism in favor of
moral idealism. A ''naïve'' may be called a ''naïf''.
Etymology
In its early use, the word ''naïve'' meant "natural or innocent", and did not connote ineptitude. As a French
adjective, it is spelled ''naïve'', for
feminine
Femininity (also called womanliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with women and girls. Femininity can be understood as socially constructed, and there is also some evidence that some behaviors considered fe ...
nouns, and ''naïf'', for
masculine
Masculinity (also called manhood or manliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles associated with men and boys. Masculinity can be theoretically understood as socially constructed, and there is also evidence that some behaviors con ...
nouns. As a French noun, it is spelled ''naïveté''.
It is sometimes spelled "naïve" with a
diaeresis, but as an unitalicized English word, "naive" is now the more usual spelling. "naïf" often represents the French masculine, but has a secondary meaning as
an artistic style. “Naïve” is pronounced as two syllables, in the French manner, and with the stress on the second one.
Culture
The naïf appears as a cultural type in two main forms. On the one hand, there is 'the satirical naïf, such as
Candide
( , ) is a French satire written by Voltaire, a philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment, first published in 1759. The novella has been widely translated, with English versions titled ''Candide: or, All for the Best'' (1759); ''Candide: or, The ...
'.
Northrop Frye suggested we might call it "the ''ingénu'' form, after
Voltaire's dialogue of that name. "Here an outsider ... grants none of the premises which make the absurdities of society look logical to those accustomed to them", and serves essentially as a prism to carry the satirical message.
Baudrillard indeed, drawing on his
Situationist roots, sought to position himself as ingénu in everyday life: "I play the role of the Danube peasant: someone who knows nothing but suspects something is wrong ... I like being in the position of the primitive ... ''playing naïve''".
On the other hand, there is the artistic "naïf - all responsiveness and seeming availability".
Here 'the naïf offers himself as being in process of formation, in search of values and models...always about to adopt some traditional "mature" temperament' - in a perpetual adolescent
moratorium. Such instances of "the naïf as a cultural image... offered themselves as essentially responsive to others and open to every invitation... established their identity in indeterminacy".
See also
Notes and references
{{DEFAULTSORT:Naive
Perception
Consciousness