Authors:

Aidan Schreck

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Not specified

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About Paper:

Honor is a powerful motive for retribution across a multitude of cultures, but the way people conduct honor-based revenge depends on the specific culture in which they reside. I have synthesized two works of analysis, one by John Thrasher and Toby Handfield on the motivations for honor violence and another by Tamler Sommers discussing how attitudes toward honor-based revenge differ by culture. In so doing, I aim to illustrate how society shapes every act of honor violence. This form of violence deters and punishes offenses against one's honor. Additionally, in the intensity of the act, it sends a forceful message to the community. What signals do acts of honor violence send, and who are the intended recipients? How do the motivations for honor-based revenge differ when committed against 291 UNIVERSITY OF OREGON • 2023 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM a relative versus a stranger? How does honor violence occur in societies that emphasize personal revenge for an insult versus those that condemn it? If signaling is a key motivation for honor violence, what form does signaling take when revenge is committed in private? I use John Steinbeck's short story The Murder as a literary example of the cultural influence on honor-based vengeance. My analysis facilitates a more comprehensive understanding of revenge and honor in societies around the world. Considering the cultural specificity of revenge also sheds light on honor violence in narrative by elucidating characters' motivations.

Source:

University of Oregon / 2023

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Co-authors:

Aidan Schreck