At the beginning of the twentieth century, the primitive played a crucial role in the emerging European modernist aesthetic. While art historians have been exploring the role of primitivism in modern art for decades, this area of research has received little attention in musicology. In this dissertation I examine how primitivism is constructed in modern French culture as manifest in three of the most important avant-garde stage works of the first part of the century: the Ballets Russes's Le Sacre du printemps (1913) and Les Noces (1923), and the Ballets Suedois's La Creation du monde (1923). Relying on primary sources such as reviews, other historically relevant documents, as well as the art historical literature, I trace the evolution of the cultural role of primitivism in pre- and post-World War 1 French culture. / French critics of Le Sacre viewed the work as a portrayal of Russian "Otherness" against which they could assert or question their own identity. Whereas the primitivism of Le Sacre was understood to be radical, excessive, even prophetic and apocalyptic, the primitivism of Les Noces was perceived as a manifestation of the classicist "call to order" and as an emblem of American-style mechanization. That it was also understood in terms of the post-war avant-garde's emphasis on classical ideals of austerity, dryness, and sobriety reflects the Purists' belief that machines heralded the new classicism. / Jazz was the ultimate symbol of both primitivism and modernity, and was initially hailed by the avant-garde as a revivifying source for the French tradition. In their attempt to neutralize the racial and political threats perceived to be inherent in jazz, the avant-garde emphasized its rationality, precision, and economy. La Creation du monde represents the avant-garde's complete assimilation of jazz and l'art negre into the French classical tradition.

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