In his classic ethnographic work, The Gift, Mauss explores the ritual of exchange through an analysis of gift-giving in Samoa. Although Mauss looks at this tangible object, it is through our understanding of the power of the gift and the act itself that brings to light the culture of the region. Here, Mauss plays into the relationship between the form and formless; between society and culture. The gift is our way into culture and provides a clear way to study it. Mauss hints at this when he writes in his introduction: “What rules of legality and self-interest, in societies of a backward or archaic type, compels the gift that has been received to be obligatorily reciprocated” (Mauss, 3). Here, the “rise of legality and self-interest” are directly informed by cultural traits. …show more content…
The act of gift-giving goes beyond the single point exchange between the owner and the recipient. Because of the eternal spirit ever-present in the object being passed along, each person coming into contact with this object, comes into contact with something more than a physical reminder of those whose hand have previously interacted with it. In this sense, society is interwoven and a total that is more than simply the sum of the individuals and it is the cultural interpretation of the gift that allows for this to occur. The spirit within the gift necessitates the obligation for reciprocation and receiving. For Mauss, culture is the invisible force that provides social values as well as a shared social responsibility that come to dominate the formed society. In order then to study culture, one must look to the actions of a society as a starting point to reveal the fundamental cultural traits of the particular