SouthandSoutheastAsiansources andtraditions

SILVIADINTINO (CNRS,PARIS)

As in Western classical cultures, we found in Asian traditions a discourse on friendship, a theoretical approach. Of the five relationship (wulun ) in Confucianism the five bondsthatmeninsocietyweretoobserveandpromotethefifthone,friendship(you), wasunique.Itwasneitherafamilybond,norastatebond.Trustandtrustfulnesswerethe values associated to it. W. Lai (1996) states that friendship was not a central concept in China, because of the high hierarchical approach of the society and its institutions. Yet, friendshipappearsastheonlysocialbondthatcouldbevoluntaryandnonhierarchical,and itisthuspossibletolookatfriendshiprelationasarefugefromthehierarchyofthesystem. Different practices of friendship lead to a specific vocabulary, reflecting a particular socio historical context. Looking at this context will help to better grasp the implications of the ideaoffriendship,atapersonalprivatelevelandinsidealargersocialcontext.Asapowerof relationonwhichsolidaritiesmaygrowup,friendshiptendstogoover canonicalschemes andtoputitselfasacrossrelation. The civic friendship (politik phila) theorised by Aristotle in Nicomachean Ethics as the principle of any society, reflects a social ideal, appears to be similar to the concept of friendshipdevelopedinAncientIndia.IntheLawsofManustrongbansdelimitthearenaof friendship,andshedlightonthehighvalueofthisrelationship.Tokillafriendisdescribed amajorcrime.However,whoisthefriendinthisancientsociety?Asarule,thetermsakhi indicates someone of my own clan (sakh); but he may also be a simple ally for a chosen communitytemporaryunitedforabattleoracommonscope.Betterthansakhiandsakhya,

another Sanskrit term, mitra, illustrates this contractual friendship, marked by specific rituals,asthegiftsexchange,symbolizingreciprocityalwaystobereaffirmed(Gonda1973). Along with this model, literary sources show that the notion of friendship invests particularly the religious context. The intimacy between Arjuna and Ka, e.g., in the Bhagavadgt offers a model of pure friendship, which goes beyond the limits of human relationship. IndoEuropean languages highlight a common heritage concerning the idea of friendship. Following . Benveniste (1969), different terms as Gr. phlos, Lat. civis, Skt. iva, eva, pointedtothesame category,with socialimplicationsandemotionalvalues. The notionof friendisoriginallyassociatedwiththatofguest:moreprecisely,itindicatesthefriendisthe foreign guest (xnos), receiving, throughout the hospitality, the same rights as the cives. Themosteloquentexampleofaritualoffriendship,saysBenveniste,isthewedding,where thebridericheshusbandshouseasaguest,andbecomesafriendtoallthefamily.Herethe emotionality cannot be separated from the vivid awareness of the social group and classes propertoIndoEuropeansocieties(Benveniste1969,vol.I:337). While exploring different rituals of friendships, the question of the relationship between friendship and memory emerges. Reflecting on Western classical models of friendship, J. Derrida(1995)observesthattheneedforapast,avitalrelationtoapast,isamainfeatureof friendship. Does friendship have a genealogy? How a given community elaborates the memoryofitsfriends(praises,commemorations,etc.)? Thissessionwillfocusontheemergenceanddevelopmentofdifferentideasoffriendshipin different Asian traditions; the values (hospitality, reciprocity, familiarity, etc.) each culture attachedtoit;theimpactofthesociohistoricalcontextonthedevelopmentofaspecificidea offriendship;theritualsandpracticesadoptedtocreateafriendshipandtocorroborateit. References:

.Benveniste1969:Levocabulairedesinstitutionsindoeuropennes.2vols.Paris,ditions deMinuit. J.Derrida1995:Politiquesdelamiti.Paris,Galile. J. Gonda 1973: Mitra and mitra. The idea of friendship in ancient India, Indologica Taurinensia,1(1973):71107.[AlsoinJ.Gonda,SelectedStudies,vol.VI.Leiden,1991:137 173]. W. Lai, 1996: Friendship in Confucian China, classical and late Ming in O. Leaman (ed.) FriendshipEastandWest:philosophicalperspectives.Richmond,CurzonPress.