Abstract
In this article I propose a new model of namus, the concept recognized in some circum-Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, and Central and South Asian cultures and usually translated as "honor." One way to understand namus is to regard it as patrilineal sovereignty, particularly reproductive sovereignty. After an "honor killing," a "defense of honor" explanatory narrative is told by both perpetrator and community alike. I argue that an honor killing represents a show of reproductive sovereignty by people who belong to a patrilineage. I first describe ethnographic contexts in which "honor killings" are operative, and then, relying on Delaney's (1991) model of namus as deeply bound up with patrogenerative theories of procreation, argue that a hymen is both a symbolic and real border to membership in the group. Finally, I apply this new conceptualization to statecraft, specifically to killings carried out in Iraqi Kurdistan following the founding of the Kurdish statelet there in 1991. Here, reproductive sovereignty and defense of borders were operative writ large as "honor killing" logic was expanded from lineage to state.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 317-342 |
| Number of pages | 26 |
| Journal | Identities |
| Volume | 15 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - May 2008 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:I gratefully acknowledge extramural support from the George A. and Eliza Gardner Howard Foundation and the Wenner-Gren Foundation, as well as support from the University of Kentucky, American University of Beirut, and Washington State University. I thank Linda Stone, Jane Harmon Kelley, Samir Khalaf, Iman Humaydan, and the anonymous reviewers for their feedback. My greatest debt is to people in Iraqi Kurdistan who spoke openly to me about topics usually left unmentioned.
Funding
I gratefully acknowledge extramural support from the George A. and Eliza Gardner Howard Foundation and the Wenner-Gren Foundation, as well as support from the University of Kentucky, American University of Beirut, and Washington State University. I thank Linda Stone, Jane Harmon Kelley, Samir Khalaf, Iman Humaydan, and the anonymous reviewers for their feedback. My greatest debt is to people in Iraqi Kurdistan who spoke openly to me about topics usually left unmentioned.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Wenner-Gren Foundation | |
| George A. and Eliza Gardner Howard Foundation | |
| University of Kentucky | |
| Washington State University | |
| American University of Beirut |
Keywords
- "Honor," patriliny
- Borders
- Namus
- Sovereignty
- The state
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Cultural Studies
- Anthropology
- Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
