In 2002 young Fadime Sahindal was brutally murdered by her own father. She belonged to a family of Kurdish immigrants who had lived in Sweden for almost two decades. But Fadime’s relationship with a man outside of their community had deeply dishonored her family, and only her death could remove the stain. This abhorrent crime shocked the world, and her name soon became a rallying cry in the struggle to combat so-called honor killings.
Unni Wikan narrates Fadime’s heartbreaking story through her own eloquent words, along with the testimonies of her father, mother, and two sisters. What unfolds is a tale of courage and betrayal, loyalty and love, power and humiliation, and a nearly unfathomable clash of cultures. Despite enduring years of threats over her emancipated life, Fadime advocated compassion for her killer to the end, believing him to be trapped by an unyielding code of honor. Wikan puts this shocking event in context by analyzing similar honor killings throughout Europe, Canada, and the United States. She also examines the concept of honor in historical and cross-cultural depth, concluding that Islam itself is not to blame—indeed, honor killings occur across religious and ethnic traditions—but rather the way that many cultures have resolutely linked honor with violence.
In Honor of Fadime holds profound and timely insights into conservative Kurdish culture, but ultimately the heart of this powerful book is Fadime’s courageous and tragic story—and Wikan’s telling of it is riveting.
By:
Unni Wikan
Translated by:
Anna Paterson
Imprint: University of Chicago Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions:
Height: 216mm,
Width: 140mm,
Spine: 23mm
Weight: 367g
ISBN: 9780226896878
ISBN 10: 0226896870
Pages: 314
Publication Date: 06 September 2021
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Introduction Part I Swedish Lives 1 Fadime, in Remembrance 2 Sara: “Too Swedish” for a Right to Live 3 Pela, or History Repeats Itself Part II Honor 4 What Is Honor? 5 The Cross-Cultural Context of Honor Killing 6 Virginity, Virility, and Honor Part III Fadime’s Case 7 At a Trial 8 Little Sister, Thirteen Years Old 9 A Mother’s Story 10 Naive or Primitive? 11 Strength Born from Grief Part IV Norwegian Lives 12 Intermission: Honor in the Courtroom 13 Nadia’s Case: Another Question of Honor 14 The Zedini Case: Was Honor at Stake? 15 The Lørenskog Murder: Rethinking Honor Part V The Appeal 16 The Man in the Woods 17 The Mother Part VI The Way Forward 18 Speaking in Parliament 19 Integration 20 At Stake: A Perception of Humanity Part VII Reflections 21 Longing for a Family Afterword Acknowledgments Notes References
Unni Wikan is professor of social anthropology at the University of Oslo, Norway. She is the author of several books, including Resonance: Beyond the Words and Generous Betrayal: Politics of Culture in the New Europe, both published by the University of Chicago Press. Anna Paterson is a translator of Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, and German. She is the author of Scotland’s Landscape: Endangered Icon.
