logo

The Gift

Marcel Mauss

The Gift

Marcel Mauss

  • 38-page comprehensive Study Guide
  • Chapter-by-chapter summaries and multiple sections of expert analysis
  • Featured in our CommunityChallenging AuthorityPower collections
  • The ultimate resource for assignments, engaging lessons, and lively book discussions

The Gift Essay Topics

1.

What rule of legality and self-interest compels the gift that has been received to be obligatorily reciprocated? Explain.

2.

What power (mana) resides in the object given that causes its recipient to pay it back? What are the consequences if it is not reciprocated? Give examples.

3.

Mauss states that the obligation to give is only superseded by the obligation to accept. In this way the potlatch is a system of total services, in particular of an agonistic type. What does he mean by this? Explain.

blurred text

Unlock this
Study Guide!

Join SuperSummary to gain instant access to all 38 pages of this Study Guide and thousands of other learning resources.
Get Started
blurred text