“Our” honor and “their” honor: The case of honor killings in Turkey

Abstract

Purpose

To study the concept of honor in Turkish everyday life discourses. Many surveys have focused on namus, thus referring to honor killings, the mechanism of violence perpetrated against women. The reason given for such killings, often seen as barbaric and the result of criminal urges, is that some men feel compelled to restore what they see as family honor, soiled by the actions of their female relatives. However, these studies avoid another key aspect of honor: namely the plurality of its meanings as honor in Turkey may also be translated both as şeref and onur.

Design/methodology/approach

To begin to understand honor in all its forms, I conducted interviews with 100 Turkish men and women ages 20–27, all university students or graduates, from the Istanbul area. I also consulted the current official and Ottoman dictionaries to understand the history of word use.

Findings

Among the young adults interviewed “honor-virtue” (i.e., namus) is a debated topic. It may be analyzed at both theoretical and geographic levels and has the connotations of otherness and non-modernity. Namus co-exists with şeref (citizen honor) and onur (dignity).

Social implications

Redefining the terms of honor could temper tensions between local/global, urban/countryside, modern/traditional, woman/man, and invisible frontier between namus and şeref worldviews. Advocating şeref and focusing on a broader definition of namus may encourage individuals to find their places in society. By focusing on national moral values, any individual in the country may participate in keeping the social order regardless of gender, age, or geographic location.

Citation

Dilmaç, J.A. (2014), "“Our” honor and “their” honor: The case of honor killings in Turkey", Gendered Perspectives on Conflict and Violence: Part B (Advances in Gender Research, Vol. 18B), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 251-274. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1529-21262014000018B014