In Chapter 11 of the Genki textbook, it's stated that に can be used to
indicate the role you want something to play. The example sentence given was:

> お土産 **に** 絵葉書を買いました。

However, I am a bit confused as I was unable to find this particular usage of
the に particle elsewhere. Could someone please clarify this issue for me?

Also, I was under the impression that the で particle is used to give context
to things. So is it possible to replace に with で in the example sentence
above?
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particles particle-に
に to indicate the role you want something to play?
に cannot be replaced by で in the above sentence.

It is really hard to pin down the exact translation of に because it has many,
**many** usages. As a rule of thumb though, に emphasizes the goal / end point
of an action. You could formulate it as _purpose_ in your case. Another
similar example would be:

  * 父の遺産は家のリフォームに使いたいと思います。I want to use my father's heritage in order to renovate my house (goal)

On the other hand, で means "to use" and / or emphasizes the usage of something
as a means to an end. For instance:

  * ２時間で走りきった。I "used" two hours to run the entire distance
  * お金で買いました。I used money to buy it.

As you can see from the last example, using で in お土産 **で** ハガキを買いました sounds
like you _used_ souvenirs _in order to_ buy postcards...
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> I was unable to find this particular usage of the に particle elsewhere.

Maybe you could try a monolingual dictionary...? For example, 明鏡国語辞典 says:

> に 〘格助〙  
>  ➊㋖資格や見立て、名目などを表す。…として。 [...] 「本を[枕]{まくら} **に** する」「お土産 **に** 菓子をもらう」「お礼
> **に** ひとこと」

This に can usually be rephrased as として. It can usually be translated to "as~"
or "for~".  
本を枕にする -- use a book **as** a pillow  
お土産に菓子をもらう -- given sweets **as** a souvenir/gift  
お礼にひとこと -- a word **as** expression of gratitude -> say something to show
one's gratitude  
So.. as your textbook says, the に is used to indicate the role one wants
something to play: one makes 本 play the role of 枕, 菓子 the role of 土産, and ひとこと
the role of お礼.

Or maybe you could try
[プログレッシブ和英中辞典](https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/en/%E3%81%AB/#je-56984):

> に  
>  7 〔…として〕as; for  
>  親切にしてもらったお礼 (の印) **に** 彼らを招待した  
>  He invited them 「as a token of his gratitude for [in return for] their
> kindness.  
>  誕生祝い **に** 時計をもらった  
>  He was given a watch for his birthday.

> I was under the impression that the で particle is used to give context to
> things. So is it possible to replace に with で in the example sentence above?

Grammatically speaking, I think 「お土産/プレゼント/お礼 **に** ～」 is the correct usage,
and using に sounds more correct to me (of course..), but I occasionally
hear/say things like 「お土産 **で** XXをもらった」「これ、誕生日のプレゼント **で** もらった」 etc. in
casual conversation... (I don't hear/say 「お礼 **で** ひとこと」「XXをYYのお礼 **で**
差し上げる」, though...) So.. I think it'd be probably okay to say
「お土産・プレゼントで～～あげた・もらった」 in casual speech but you should use ～～に in formal
speech, writing, exams, etc.
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