Marcel Mauss and the cultural history: a contemporary rescue

Abstract This article discusses Marcel Mauss as historical subject. This discussion is based on understanding his ideas in the ideas of other thinkers of the period such as Levi-Strauss (2004), Stockingjr (2004); Montandon (2011); Castro (2005) and Martins (2005). From this point of view, it analyzes the context of production of his essay "The Gift" and how his ideas are articulated in the formation and interpretation of human societies. We use historiography for interpreting different times and historical productions in addition to the inter-relationship between theory and practice applied to the understanding of the historical daily life. Therefore this study seeks to rescue and understand the "dimensions" of hospitality, in its initial conception, and in today's world, beyond the idea of "continuum", discussed and propagated by contemporary historiography.