The Gift: How the Creative Spirit Transforms the World“If you want to write, paint, sing, compose, act, or make films, read The Gift.” —from the Introduction by Margaret Atwood A modern classic cherished by many of the greatest artists of our time and a brilliant, life-changing defense of the value of creative labor. Drawing on examples from folklore and literature, history and tribal customs, economics and modern copyright law, Lewis Hyde demonstrates how our society—governed by the marketplace—is poorly equipped to determine the worth of artists’ work. He shows us that another way is possible: the alternative economy of the gift, which allows creations and ideas to circulate freely, rather than hoarding them as commodities. Illuminating and transformative, The Gift is a triumph of originality and insight—an essential book for anyone who has ever given or received a work of art. |
Contents
Eight The Commerce of the Creative Spirit | 185 |
Nine A Draft of Whitman | 208 |
Conclusion | 356 |
On Being Good Ancestors | 369 |
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Common terms and phrases
Allen Ginsberg artist asked become begin bestowal body bridewealth brother brotherhood called Calvin Cantos capital century chapter circle commerce commodity copper creative culture D. H. Lawrence dead death donor economic erotic example Ezra Pound faith feel generosity gift economy gift exchange Ginsberg give given gratitude Hermes ideas identity imagination increase interest Kula labor Leaves of Grass Lewis Hyde live loan Luther marriage Marshall Sahlins Mauss modern mother move Mussolini nature never objects offered Osiris person poem poet poetry political potlatch receive reciprocity return gift Robert Bly Sahlins Selected Prose sense servant social society someone song soul speak spirit story stranger T. S. Eliot tale tells things tion trade tribal tribe turn Uduk usura usury wealth Whitman woman women write wrote York