Published Online:March 2025
Product Name:The IUP Journal of English Studies
Product Type:Article
Product Code:IJES040325
DOI:10.71329/IUPJES/2025.20.1.45-54
Author Name:Ayesha M I
Availability:YES
Subject/Domain:Arts and Humanities
Download Format:PDF
Pages:45-54
This paper offers an all-inclusive theoretical deconstruction of honor and shame as sociocultural constructs, employing a multifaceted analytical framework. Drawing on Affect Theory, Posthumanism, Cultural Trauma Theory, Social Death Theory and Biopolitics, it questions the systemic and emotional dynamics behind honor-based violence as depicted in Perumal Murugan’s Pyre. Affect theory explicates the emotional intensities of fear, guilt and shame that disseminate such practices. Posthumanism explores the role of materiality and nonhuman agents in facilitating cultural norms, while cultural trauma theory scrutinizes the collective memories surrounded within caste and tribal hierarchies. Social death theory expounds the ostracization faced by the protagonists, and biopolitics critiques the governance of women’s bodies as sites of cultural purity. By synthesizing these perspectives, this study provides a nuanced understanding of honor-based practices, accentuating their affective, material and systemic dimensions. Ultimately, it advocates for a critical reexamination of cultural narratives surrounding honor and shame to foster a more inclusive discourse on human rights.
The concepts of honor and shame are deep-rooted social constructs, disseminated through narrative passed down across generations, Fiction serves as a critical medium for exploring the undercurrents of cultural and communal honor, particularly in the context of honor killings.