Troubles with assessments in gifting occasions

Abstract

This paper analyzes gift-exchange occasions as both a sequentially organized activity, and as a ritual practice imbued with social and cultural meaning. Specifically, the paper focuses on the role of assessments in gifting sequences, the distribution of assessments across participants, and some of the possible troubles which can arise in doing assessments of gifts based on discourse analysis of 44 gifting situations in one family's 30 home videos spanning 13 years. I argue that participants encounter difficulties in the process of proffering assessments of gifts, and that such troubles revolve around the dilemma of constructing positive assessments as authentically given.The analysis discusses the organization of action in gifting occasions, outlines the expectations and dilemmas involved in doing assessments of gifts, and presents participants' discursive practices for managing potential troubles in gift assessment. Key wordsGifting, discourse analysis, ritual, morality, assessments, authenticity, alignment, communication dilemmas Assessments in Gifting 3Bio note: Jessica S. Robles (PhD, University of Colorado at Boulder) is a lecturer at the University of New Hampshire. Her research looks at discursive and embodied communicative practices, particularly with regard to morality, trouble and conflict, in various institutional, interpersonal, and cultural contexts. Assessments in Gifting 4 Troubles with assessments in gifting occasionsThe giving and receiving of gifts is a practice which is both ordinary and special, one with its own cultural, social, and relational expectations. Occasions for gift exchange are organized and orderly, yet fraught with assumptions and face demands. This paper analyzes giftexchange occasions as a sequentially organized activity and as a ritual practice imbued with social and cultural meaning. The paper focuses on the role of assessments in gifting sequences, the distribution of assessments across participants, and some of the possible troubles which can arise in doing assessments of gifts. Based on discourse analysis of 44 gifting situations in a collection of one family's 30 home videos spanning 13 years, I argue that gift recipients, givers and onlookers encounter difficulties in the process of proffering assessments of gifts. These include interactional dilemmas, involving choices in what to say and how to say it, as well as sequential concerns with the placement and production of assessments. The care with which assessments are collaboratively constructed, and the trouble participants may confront doing so, indicate an ideal of authenticity which underlies gifting occasions and which is at odds with the social expectation that gifts must be assessed positively.The next section covers the site of the gift-exchange occasion as a ritual practice and a sequentially organized activity, then reviews assessment as central to gifting. The section thereafter outlines the methodological approach, then presents the analysis of examples from 44 giftings, beginning with the sequential...

Gifting personal interpretations in galleries

“…The giver then evaluates this dual response, and each partner experiences an affective outcome ranging from satisfaction to disappointment. Robles also considers the troublesome matter of how the 'assessment' of gifts needs to be smoothly managed between gift giver and recipient so as to ensure a smooth social occasion, noting that "occasions for gift exchange are organized and orderly, yet fraught with assumptions and face demands" [20].…”

Enhancing the authenticity of assessments through grounding in first impressions

“…First, the authenticity of assessments can be questioned when speakers are involved in activities which are made up of slots projecting the production of such evaluations. For example, in gift exchanges, receivers orient to inbuilt expectations to positively assess received gifts, thus transforming the genuineness of their appreciation into a matter of moral performance (Robles, ). Second, in sequential contexts where interlocutors show little involvement in ongoing conversational projects proposed by the speakers, assessments grounded in initial interactions permit conversationalists to keep the topic open by adding independent arguments which strengthen their claims while also constructing new opportunities for their partners’ contributions.…”

“…The independence of assessments constitutes a key argument for their genuineness and is therefore pursued by speakers as part of their display of authenticity. Independence is a provocation not only for second assessors who might be heard as ‘merely’ agreeing with prior speakers but also for the producers of first assessments in sequential contexts where their actions might be interpreted as having been brought about by contextual constraints or circumstances, as Robles () and Edwards and Fasulo () have observed.…”

“…In mapping the ritualistic organization of gift exchanges, Robles () points out the normative features of assessment production. Among them, authenticity is one of the most difficult to accomplish, due to the fact that gift exchange rituals provide slots for co‐present parties to enact ‘expecting’ the gift receiver to proffer a positive assessment.…”

Supporting Group Coherence in a Museum Visit

“…Onlookers -those present who aren"t giving or receiving -play a key role in gifting occasions. When gifts are received, they are often presented to onlookers for assessment, and onlookers respond with positive evaluations of the gift and sometimes questions [21]. It was therefore decided that each member would be able to engage with the entire set of content, not just the parts that had been designed for them, to allow participants to take on the role of onlookers, as they would in traditional gifting occasions.…”