There is a book of R. Nissbett about culture of honor and that studies
southern USA and that may be quite close to what you are looking. I do
not know the book in detail so I cannot express further opinions about
it.
Quoting Peter Smagorinsky <smago@coe.uga.edu>:
> I did not mean to sound offended, but wanted simply to ward off
> overgeneralizations on a large and varied region.
>
> First, people do not agree on what is included in the American South.
> When
> I lived in Oklahoma, some considered it Midwestern, others Southern,
> others
> Southwestern (and that orientation might depend on which part of the
> state
> you lived in--the part bordering Arkansas, the part bordering New
> Mexico,
> the part bordering Kansas). To some Maryland is in the South, to
> others
> not. Many people in Georgia think that my home state of Virginia is
> in the
> North. And many people in southern Virginia do not believe the
> Washington
> DC metropolitan area (where I grew up) to be part of the South. So if
>
> you're going to talk about the region, you need to consider that it's
>
> ill-defined to begin with.
>
> Second, many perceptions of the region are based on the dominant
> culture,
> when many other cultures exist. In the South most obviously this
> would
> refer to African American culture, which itself includes a number of
> social
> class distinctions. Metro Atlanta, for instance, has a robust
> governing
> and entrepreneurial African American social class that is not present
> in
> other parts of Georgia where the legacies of slavery and segregation
> are
> still present and affect economic opportunities for African
> Americans. More recently, the large Latino/a immigration has brought
> new
> cultures to the region--I emphasize the plural because of the variety
> of
> nationalities represented (see, e.g., the large Cuban population in
> Miami
> and burgeoning Mexican population in Georgia).
>
> They say that the South isn't as Southern as it used to be. A lot of
>
> Northerners have relocated to the South because of the temperate
> climate
> and business opportunities. It's still got an unfortunate base of
> racist
> White residents (see the inflammatory debates about the Confederate
> flag),
> both those blatantly hostile and those who discriminate more subtly.
> But
> I've lived in a number of parts of the US and have found racism
> everywhere. This is not to excuse Southern racists, only to point
> out that
> they're hardly unique and perhaps more indignant given that not long
> ago
> their prejudices were written into law and they feel that they've
> lost
> their entitlement. In most of the state-wide elections we've had
> since I
> moved here, the candidates who've played the race card have lost.
>
> As for a Southern code of honor, I just don't know. I think it's
> like a
> lot of other legacies (e.g., the Southern tradition of civility,
> which was
> extended only to other Whites), it's part of a heritage that may or
> may not
> have actually been practiced, and is referred to these days primarily
> in
> terms of its loss. But like a lot of other Golden Age concepts, it
> may
> never have existed as strongly as memory suggests.
>
> Well, hardly a chat analysis, and likely an impressionistic ramble,
> but my
> 2 cents' worth, and worth every penny.
>
> best,Peter
>
>
>
> At 04:44 PM 1/6/2004 +0100, you wrote:
> >Sorry Peter,
> >
> >I did not want to offend you or other Southern in any way. I guess
> it was
> >the same generalization as talking about Mediterranean, Arabic,
> Islamic
> >culture of honour. And that is one of my problems to be able to
> locate it
> >clear and distinct, but still it exist floating around and showing
> its face
> >here and there. So Peter, since you are born, raised and live in
> South and
> >work with CHAT what is your reflections on the subject? Can you give
> me a
> >tread to start with?
> >
> >Yours curious
> >
> >Hans
> >
> >Den 04-01-06 16.19, skrev "Peter Smagorinsky" <smago@coe.uga.edu>:
> >
> > > Hans wrote: (I heard that some say that the culture of honour in
> the South
> > > of USA should be somewhat equal to the Arabic?)
> > >
> > > I have lived more than half of my life in the American South and
> would say
> > > that, while such a strain of belief might exist, it does not
> characterize
> > > the whole region. The South is a large and diverse place, in
> spite of what
> > > you see depicted in the media, which prefers Deliverance-style
> backwoods
> > > caricature (note that almost any character in a movie or TV show
> with a
> > > Southern accent is an idiot).
> > >
> > > Peter (native of Virginia, current resident of Georgia)
> > >
> > > At 03:41 PM 1/6/2004 +0100, you wrote:
> > >> Hi,
> > >>
> > >> I am just starting to do an assignment about young people, who
> are
> > attracted
> > >> to their own sex, how they are exposed to violence in the family
> due
> > to the
> > >> culture of honour. And how the social service and police deals
> with it. It
> > >> is not about what you call the coming-out process and problems
> around it.
> > >> More that the violence towards girls in some family, even
> killing,
> > have put
> > >> a focus that there also could be the same problem for young
> people who are
> > >> attracted to their own sex, living in such families.
> > >>
> > >> In Sweden we have had the last years two killing of daughter by
> their
> > >> fathers in the name of family honour, since the daughters had
> Swedish
> > >> boyfriends instead of the man to marry that the parents have
> chosen from
> > >> their own culture. In both cases the families have come from
> rural Middle
> > >> East culture. (I heard that some say that the culture of honour
> in the
> > South
> > >> of USA should be somewhat equal to the Arabic?) That made people
> in Sweden
> > >> focus on patriarchal family system threatening or conducting
> violence on
> > >> their children in the name of cultural honour. Culture of
> honour, in the
> > >> violent form, seems to be connected to ³shame-culture², where
> the public
> > >> esteem is the greatest good and to be ill spoken of the greatest
> evil. In
> > >> the name of this honour-code mostly fathers and brothers use
> threats of
> > >> violence, violence and in extreme cases killing to rule over
> their
> > >> daughters/sisters. In Sweden we think that the same condition
> exist for
> > >> young people who are attracted to their own sex. The Government
> therefore
> > >> have supported funds for this report.
> > >>
> > >> But since I want to base the report on culturalhistorical
> activitytheory I
> > >> want to ask following.
> > >>
> > >> I want to know if someone has done some researched in this area?
> Since I
> > >> want to lift the question away from just Middle East/Arabic
> culture I need
> > >> to focus more about what is building up a culture and in this
> case the
> > >> culture of honour, and especially the culture that cherish
> honour more
> > than
> > >> life. And here I have not yet come across a good definition
> about culture
> > >> out of CHAT. Do you know a good operational one? I have not yet
> found
> > >> something using CHAT to explain family violence - in this case
> towards
> > sons
> > >> and daughters because of their sexuality.
> > >>
> > >> I have found some good thoughts in Lave and Wenger about the
> learning
> > >> process which could be used to describe why the culture of
> honour still
> > >> exist in families, even though they live in a country that do
> not
> > allow that
> > >> kind of law.
> > >>
> > >> Could anybody help me?
> > >>
> > >> Yours
> > >>
> > >> Hans Knutagård
> > >> Sweden
> > >
>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sun Feb 01 2004 - 01:00:09 PST