The Question of the Gift Essays Across Disciplines [Paperback]

The Question of the Giftis the first collection of new interdisciplinary essays on the gift. Bringing together scholars from a variety of fields, including anthropology, literary criticism, economics, philosophy and classics, it provides new paradigms and poses new questions concerning the theory and practice of gift exchange. In addressing these questions, contributors not only challenge the conventions of their fields, but also combine ideas and methods from both the social sciences and humanities to forge innovative ways of confronting this universal phenomenon.

Introduction: Questions of the Gift  Mark Osteen  Part I: Redefining Reciprocity  1. A Free Gift Makes No Friends  James Laidlaw  2. Unbalanced Reciprocity: Asymmetrical Gift-Giving and Social Hierarchy in Rural China  Yunxiang Yan  3. Unpacking the Gift: Illiquid Goods and Empathetic Dialogue  Lee Anne Fennell  Part II: Kinship, Generosity and Gratitude: Ethical Foundations  4. The Patriarchal Narratives of Genesisand the Ethos of Gift Exchange  Charles H. Hinnant  5. The Ethics of Generosity and Friendship: Aristotle's Gift to Nietzsche?  Martha Kendral Woodruff 6. Adam Smith and the Debt of Gratitude  Eun Kyung Min  Part III: The Gift and Artistic Commerce  7. Catullus and the Gift of Sentiment in Republican Rome  Jacqui Sadashige 8. Gabriele D'Annunzio: The Art of Squandering  Nicoletta Pireddu  9. Conrad's Guilt-Edged Securities: 'Karain: A Memory' via Simmel and Benjamin  Anthony P. Fothergill  10. Formed by Homages: H. D., Robert Duncan,ló˜