以榮譽之名?從榮譽的重探反思榮譽殺人事件

Abstract

伴隨著伊斯蘭女性書寫風潮的興起，國際媒體也不斷揭蔽危及穆斯林女性生存的榮譽殺人（Honor Killings）問題。根據國際特赦組織對榮譽殺人的定義，其發生通常是斷言、懷疑或輿論指控受害者在「性」上有不正當關係，因而藉由殺害使家族「蒙羞」的女性，切割與羞恥的關係，重新召喚回榮譽。

思考這個現象的原因，有人認為這是個伊斯蘭的宗教問題，認為女性在該文化中被嚴苛、不平等的對待。然而，筆者在研究的過程中發現，這其實更是個結構主義下父權統治模式的問題，建立在「性」表現為一種社會關係的「區分」原則上，並再製到經濟、道德論述與概念化的詮釋中，透過一種獨立者（男性）、依賴者（女性）的「互補」關係，續存著父系氏族的利益與既有權力，解釋了阿拉伯社會關係學者長久以來的困惑－「為何女性性行為的不當帶來了氏族的不榮譽」。對此，諾貝爾和平獎得主希林•艾巴迪（Shirin Ebadi）曾表示，身為一個伊朗穆斯林，她宣稱侵犯人權和剝奪女權是社會與文化的問題，不是伊斯蘭教的問題。撰寫榮譽殺人寫實小說的作者Sita Lazenby於序言時亦表示，「榮譽殺人並非是種道德問題，也不再是確保女性個人操守的問題，而是一種支配、權力關係的問題」（Lazenby 2001）。為了回應這些說法，本文將思考的重點放在「榮譽殺人真的是因為榮譽而殺人嗎」？這究竟是個「榮譽殺人」（Honor Killings）的問題，還是個「家族長制謀殺」（Patriarchal Killings）的問題？

在論文中，筆者以榮譽殺人作為一個思考的起點，透過重新檢視榮譽，思考該事件中背後的權力關係、支配結構、性別政治…等問題。透過本文的研究對象與對榮譽和暴力的重省，我們將發現更多性別隱蔽在一種認同或道德意識型態下的權力關係。

Abstract

With the raising of feminine writing of Islam, medias are also disclosing the problems of honor killings increasingly which has been endangering the existence of Muslim women. According to the definition of Amnesty International, these killings are often undertaken when a family council decides on the time and form of execution due to an allegation, suspicion, or proof of sexual impropriety by the victim. By killing the girl who was deemed to have harmed the family’s reputation, they shed the relationship with shame and recalled the honor again.

Considering the reason of this phenomenon, some people thought that it’s a religion problem and indicated that women were treated harshly, unequally in Islam. However, in the process of my research, I would like to argue this problem as a way of patriarchal culture which was constructed through the fundamental principle of the distinction of sex, the division between active male and passive female. Appearing as social relation of domination, the sexual relation has been reproduced in economics, moral discourse and conceptual interpretation. Through the relationship of complementary - independent man and dependent woman perpetuates the interests and power of agnation. It reinterprets the phenomenon that has long puzzled observers of Arab social relations: the dishonor brought on kin by a ‘woman’s’ conduct. Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi said that as an Iranian Muslim, what against human right and woman’s right not the problem of Islam but patriarchal culture is. Sita Lazenby who wrote the book “The Honour Killings” expressed her view in the preface “the problem of honour killings is not a problem of morality or of ensuring that women maintain their own personal virtue; rather, it is a problem of domination, power…. ”To response this statement, I start to think “Is this an Honor Killing? or just a Patriarchal Killing?” “Is it true that killing someone only based on ‘honor’?”

In this thesis, taking honor killing as a beginning of thinking, we are going to consider the power, domination and the gender politics which were behind the events. Through the object of this text and rethinking of honor, violence, we would find out more power relations within gender which have been hidden in identity or moral ideology.

Keywords: Gender Politics, honor, Muslim women