Gift
Man presents a cut of meat to a youth with a hoop. Athenian red-figure vase, ca. 460 BCE
A gift or present is the transfer of money, goods, etc., without the direct compensation that is involved in trade, although possibly involving a social expectation of reciprocity, or a return in the form of prestige or power. In many human societies, the act of mutually exchanging gifts contributes to social cohesion. Economists have elaborated the economics of gift-giving into the notion of a gift economy.
By extension the term gift can refer to anything that makes the other more happy or less sad, especially as a favour, including forgiveness and kindness (even when the other is not kind).
Presentation
When material objects are given as gifts, in many cultures they are traditionally packaged in some manner. For example, in Western culture, gifts are often wrapped in wrapping paper and accompanied by a gift note which may note the occasion, the giftee's name, and the giver's name. In Chinese culture, red wrapping connotes luck.
Occasions
The occasion may be:
- Expression of love or friendship
- Expression of gratitude for a gift received
- Expression of piety, in the form of charity
- Expression of solidarity, in the form of mutual aid
- To share wealth
- To offset misfortune
- Offering travel souvenirs
- Custom, on occasions (often celebrations) such as
- A birthday (the person who has his or her birthday gives cake, etc. and/or receives gifts)
- A potlatch, in societies where status is associated with gift-giving rather than acquisition.
- Christmas (people give each other gifts, often supposedly receiving them from Santa Claus)
- Saint Nicholas (people give each other gifts, often supposedly receiving them from Saint Nicholas)
- A wedding (the couple receives gifts and gives food and/or drinks at the wedding reception)
- A funeral (visitors bring flowers, the relatives of the deceased give food and/or drinks after the ceremonial part)
- A birth (the baby receives gifts)
- Passing an examination (the student receives gifts)
- Father's Day (the father receives gifts)
- Mother's Day (the mother receives gifts)
- Exchange of gifts between a guest and a host, often a traditional practice
- Giving a round of drinks in a bar.
- Lagniappe
Kinds of gifts
A gift may either be
- an ordinary object,
- an object created for the express purpose of gift exchange, such as the armbands and necklaces in the Trobriand Islands' Kula exchange,
- an alternative gift such as a donation to a charity in the name of the recipient.
Religious views
Ritual sacrifices can be seen as return gifts to a deity. Sacrifice can also be seen as a gift from a deity: Lewis Hyde remarks in The Gift that Christianity considers the Incarnation and subsequent death of Jesus to be a "gift" to humankind, and that the Jākata contains a tale of the Buddha in his incarnation as the Wise Hare giving the ultimate alms by offering himself up as a meal for Sakka. (Hyde, 1983, 58-60)
Figurative meaning
A gift can also be a special talent or ability that was not earned through the usual amount of long and difficult practice but instead comes easily to the recipient in a natural way. A person with such a gift is said to be "a natural" or "gifted" in that field of endeavor. A gift, in this sense, can be thought of as being given by God or by nature: a God-given or natural gift received by one at birth. For example, a fluent and entertaining speaker is said to have "the gift of gab".
Super Powers
The word gift can also be used to describe the powers and abilities of a super-hero. For example, on the CW television series Smallville, Clark Kent's father Jonathan frequently refers to his "gifts," by which he means his invulnerability, super-speed, etc.
See also
- Alms
- Altruism
- Atonement
- Charity
- Debt relief
- Gift tax
- Random act of kindness
- Red packet
- Regifting
- Souvenir
- TANSTAAFL
Notes
Further reading
- Marcel Mauss and W.D. Halls, Gift: The Form and Reason for Exchange in Archaic Societies, W. W. Norton, 2000, trade paperback, ISBN 0-393-32043-X
- Lewis Hyde: The Gift: Imagination and the Erotic Life of Property, 1983 (ISBN 0-394-71519-5), especially part I, "A Theory of Gifts", part of which was originally published as "The Gift Must Always Move" in Co-Evolution Quarterly No. 35, Fall 1982.