Gift Relationship as a Corporeal Problem : kula and potlatch

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  • 贈与制度の身体論的把握 : クラとポトラッチ
  • ゾウヨ セイド ノ シンタイロンテキ ハアク クラ ト ポトラッチ

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Abstract

There have been numerous articles written on gift relationships. This paper examines two well-known gift relationships from the viewpoint that a gift relationship is a set of bodily movements. Human social action necessarily involves two constituents, intentional choice, and bodily movement. This paper will focus on the latter. Making reference to Goffman's notion that bodily movement is distinct from the intentional choice of a social action, the paper assumes that the set of bodily movements, which comprise giving and receiving, will inevitably generate a communal designation of the situation, called here a communal fiction. Firstly, kula is described as an institution producing a communal fiction, "the friendship of the kula ring." Participants in the kula ring are unaware of the fiction generated by their bodily movement; it is not their intention to generate the fiction, rather it is an unselfconscious result of their bodily movement. Secondly, potlatch is studied carefully, and the mechanism for producing a communal ideal of "the independence of property" in potlatch is made clear. Finally, the destruction of property, which culminates the potlatch, is examined. This behavior demonstrates the possibility of transcending the communal fiction. Apropos to this line of reasoning, reference is made to both Bataille's theory of sacrifice, and Mauss' theory. An additional vehicle for transcending the communal fiction is discussed.

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