The Other Side of the Gift: Soliciting in Java

Retsikas, Kostas

Abstract

The paper inquiries into some of the hidden dimensions of anthropological considerations of the gift and giving, making the case for a new approach to value transfers. Such approach is delineated through critical engagement both with Mauss’s original work on the subject and the work of others scholars, in particular Strathern’s new Melanesian ethnography and Derrida’s deconstructive readings. In addition, by means of drawing upon ethnographic material from Muslim practices undertaken in Java, Indonesia, the paper highlights the importance of soliciting as an alternative concept for thinking about value transfers, stressing, in particular, the significance of activities of taking for a new and different perspective on the complexities that permeate the social.

Citation

Retsikas, K. (2016). The Other Side of the Gift: Soliciting in Java. Heidelberg ethnology, https://doi.org/10.11588/hdethn.0.0.29971

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 20, 2016
• Online Publication Date: Apr 24, 2016
• Publication Date: Apr 24, 2016
• Deposit Date: May 3, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: May 3, 2016
• Electronic ISSN: 2364-3730
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Issue: 4
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.11588/hdethn.0.0.29971
• Keywords: gift, Derrida, soliciting, zakat, Mauss, Java, Indonesia