Potlatch, absolute hospitality and metaphorization in constructing socioeconomic intercultural reality

Abstract

The article reveals and substantiates the following thesis: the “economy of trust” exists exclusively in the context and sphere of specific social relations named potlatch. Potlatch is a traditional gift-giving feast that taken place among the natives of North America. Nowadays there are two points of view on the phenomenon of potlatch. On the one hand, potlatch is claimed to be a reckless waste. On the other hand, it is considered as a clear illustration of trust integration. At this point, the gift-giving process introduces the phenomenon of “absolute hospitality”, the embodiment of which is the trust-based space of social integration. Absolute hospitality presupposes the free economic activity of the guest, which is based on unlimited trust and conditioned by nothing. The economy of trust can exist only in such space. Narrativization and metaphorization are essential features of gift-giving space and socio-economic relations developed in it. These are the main forms of construction and interpretation such spaces and relations.

Keywords

• potlatch
• absolute hospitality
• metaphorization
• cross-cultural communication
• trust
• narrative
• economy of trust