The Self and the Gift in Japan: A Cognitive View of Ritualized Gift Exchange in Contemporary Western Japan

"Oseibo exchanges provide a site to explore the relationship between the self and others in contemporary Japanese society. The role of the giver or the recever of a gift is composed of a set of obligations/rights between the self and others. However, when the individual attempts to do his/her role performance for others, he/she always has to recognize the deficiency of the exact prescription of his/her role obligations (""cognitive ambiguity"" of role or of role obligation). It is in this process of role performance that the individual is willing to express his/her ""individuality"" in the way of his/her role performance. Through these efforts to express individuality in terms of the ways of accomplishing a role performance, the individual can establish others' ""positive evaluation"" for his/her ""individual-likeness"". Hence, by attempting to see the process of the actual performance of an oseibo presentation, we will be able to find out the giver's expressions of his/her ""individuality"" in the way of his/her gift giving."

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Anthropology

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2015

Author dc:creator

• Yamamoto, Yuji

Contributors dc:contributor

• Lehman, Frederic K.

• Sociology, General

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

(MiAaPQ)AAI9990194

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/85337