Eine Frage der Ehre: Besitz und Geschlecht in der (spanischen) Literaturgeschichte

Abstract

In the context of religiously motivated conflicts between radicalized fundamental Islamists and the Western Christian world, "honour" remains a difficult question. At the same time the public believed to have overcome the dichotomy of Orient vs. Occident. Though, we cannot delve at this point into the media coverage of so-called honour killings in Western societies with different migration backgrounds, nor into the problematic attitude of a ‘civilized’ and ‘western’ defined society towards one that is defined as ‘primitive’ and ‘barbaric’ due to its concepts of honour. The present study explores the role of “honour” and gender relations in literary examples from the 16^th-17^th century (Calderón, Tirso de Molina, Shakespeare) to the 19th century (Baudelaire, Edgar Allan Poe) up to the 20th century (Lorca), relying on theoretical approaches from anthropology, philosophy and gender studies.