| Abstract [eng] |
Using the research tools of phenomenological anthropology, semiotics and everyday practices, the dissertation presents an analytical look at the experiences of gift-giving in contemporary social life through different meanings, identifiable and changing relationships. It focuses on different instances of gift-giving: when a gift is given for holidays and other occasions, important life events, or when it remains unrealized – ungiven, unreceived, unappreciated. In the research the collected qualitative free-form unstructured interviews and the author's descriptions of personal experiences are analysed. The study combines a qualitative approach with a quantitative one: the most salient aspects of gift-giving identified during the interviews are assessed by a representative survey of Lithuanian public opinion, showing the prevalence and demographic cross-sections of different attitudes towards gift-giving. It reveals how gifts both reflect and affect people's interpersonal relationships, how these experiences are enacted, take on meaning and are remembered. The traditions of gift-giving in a society testify to deeper layers of worldview that determine trust as a relationship of generosity (or the lack of it). Moreover, through the gift, as a non-verbal form of communication, people can communicate, express and understand multiple layers of meaning – without words, without separate reflection, but through experiential knowledge, known in phenomenology as lived experience. |
