FOR SOME, the December holidays are a bleak stretch indeed. Blame the gross shopping spectacle of Christmas if you will, but non-Christian friends assure me it isn’t the commercialization of an ancient pagan-turned-religious-now-material feast that causes gloom. Any convivial ritual bent on promoting community and good will is bound to produce a counter-revolution in the hearts of some. Alienation rises up like a black dog. Jingles jar. Turkey disgusts.

Choosing neither to ignore the dark side of a season officially dedicated to light, nor to go with the flow and pretend we can say something original, Rover will dedicate our next 12 days to a series of personal essays on the nature and meaning of gifts. The association of an ideal gift with art. The art of gift-giving. Gifts of art. 

The inspiration for this wide-ranging theme comes from Lewis Hyde’s marvellous book, The Gift – Creativity and the Artist in the Modern World. First published 15 years ago, his thoughtful essay on the relationship between artistic creation and the gift exchange seems more relevant than ever. Once could even argue, more urgent. 

In Hyde’s view, art is fundamentally a gift. Although skill and hard work are necessary elements of creation, art partakes of the unearned; therefore, in order to flourish, art must exist outside the marketplace. There is an irreconcilable conflict between the gift exchange of art and the marketplace in which art is bought and sold. It is part of the artist’s struggle to cope with this inherent tension – “the disconnect between the practice of art and common forms of earning a living”.

While much of The Gift is about art and artists, Hyde also offers a great deal of information and analysis on the historical and social theme of gift-giving across time and cultures. These passages are particularly timely since, if the media are to be believed, we’re entering some kind of a changed world in which materialism won’t be as omnipresent – or as possible – as it has been in recent memory. Pinch me if this is just another fad, but that’s what “they” are saying. 

The recent Vintage re-issue of The Gift carries an impressive litany of accolades from known writers. Margaret Atwood (who dubbed it a ‘masterpiece’ in the L.A. Times) keeps a stack of copies to give struggling writers who cross her path. Indeed, this book will be appreciated by any writer who has looked too hard at the current state of book publishing, and at wide-spread predictions for its future. Market forces have overtaken a realm of human activity which not so long ago was thought to be about something more than the skirmish of trade.  

So, here’s a nod to one book worth reading in 2009, although it isn’t readily available in any of our local bookstores. In homage to The Gift, thoughts from a dozen Montreal writers on the subject of gifts. The 12 Days of Christmas, Chanukah, etc.

Some chose to answer the question: if you could get or give any gift of art, regardless of price or availability, no limit on time or space, what would it be? Others just ignored the question and wrote what they liked.

Dear Readers, enjoy! Please send your own stories and comments on the subject by way of our comment box. 

And a very merry Ch-Ch-Ch- to all of you.