Austin and Mauss with Derrida: Gift and speech acts
Austin and Mauss with Derrida: Gift and speech acts

Summary/Abstract: If we assume with Deyan Deyanov that there is an essential link between the logic of gift (as developed by Marcel Mauss) and speech act theory, and furthermore if we focus on the non-classical problematic of what Todor Petkov has called ‘molecular performatives,’ we could re-inscribe the Derridean account of the gift in this problematic in order to shed some light on the process of constitution of molecular performatives. According to Derrida, the gift exceeds the gift-exchange (gift – counter-gift) and at the same time is constitutive for exchange in general. In its movement, it restricts itself, letting the very event it brings about be forgotten. Now, if we look at molecular performatives, we could analyze their inventiveness even at the everyday level; at the same time, due to our retrospective point-of-view, they will always seem to follow rather precise rules and conventions. Thus, while on the one hand, they seem to remain in the circle, on the other hand, they should have transcended the circle every time a performative series occurs. Derrida could help with the articulation of the immanent contradictory character of molecular performatives and with the retracing of the way they restrict themselves.

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