Marcel Mauss - The Gift
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Published in 1924, The Gift states that parties to a relationship of gift exchange are obligated to give gifts, to receive them and to repay them in the appropriate ways.

In these relationships, the object that is given bears the identity of the giver. When the recipient receives the gift, they not only receive the object, but the association of that object with the identity of the giver. This is particularly clear when Mauss describes the phenomenon of the Maori Hau, which can be loosely translated as the "spirit of the gift". The hau demands that the gift be returned to its owner.

Other Notes in this Category

1. Malinowski and the Kula
2. Marcel Mauss - The Gift
3. Marilyn Strathern's Relational Approach to Exchange
4. Some Key Terms

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