The Enigma of the Gift

When we think of giving gifts, we think of exchanging objects that carry with them economic or symbolic value. But is every valuable thing a potentially exchangeable item, whose value can be transferred? InThe Enigma of the Gift, the distinguished French anthropologist Maurice Godelier reassesses the significance of gifts in social life by focusing on sacred objects, which are never exchanged despite the value they possess. Beginning with an analysis of the seminal work of Marcel Mauss and Claude Leacute;vi-Strass, and drawing on his own fieldwork in Melanesia, Godelier argues that traditional theories are flawed because they consider only exchangeable gifts. By explaining gift-giving in terms of sacred objects and the authoritative conferral of power associated with them, Godelier challenges both recent and traditional theories of gift-giving, provocatively refreshing a traditional debate. Elegantly translated by Nora Scott,The Enigma of the Giftis at once a major theoretical contribution and an essential guide to the history of the theory of the gift.

目录 Forgetting the fourth obligation mens gifts to the gods 29 Is the hau really the key to the mystery? or how Mauss 49 own accord 101 Substitute Objects for Humans and for the Gods 108 Sacred objects as gifts from the Sun the Moon or the spirits 115 Are sacred objects symbols? 121 The mens theft of the flutes 133 Baruya shell necklaces and valuable objects 141 What is the place of potlatch societies in history? 153 What is a valuable? 161 On the metamorphosis of an object of trade into a gift object or 167 and society 175 The Disenchanted Gift 200 Bibliography 211 Notes 222 Index 249

Maurice Godelier is directeur d'Études at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris, head of the Centre de recherche et de documentation sur l'OcÉanie, and past scientific director of the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS). His book Grands Hommes (1982) won the Prix de l'AcadÉmie Française.

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