Authors: S. Persis, Dr. K Saraswathy
Abstract: Elif Shafak’s Honour (2012) intricately explores the intersections of tradition, identity, and existential struggle within the context of diasporic life and patriarchal constraint. This paper examines how Shafak portrays the clash between inherited cultural codes and individual freedom through her multi-generational narrative that spans Kurdish-Turkish and British settings. By tracing the moral and psychological journeys of the Toprak family, the study analyzes how the notion of honour functions as both a social construct and a source of existential crisis. Drawing on existentialist perspectives—particularly Sartre’s ideas of freedom, responsibility, and bad faith—the paper argues that Shafak redefines honour not as a collective burden but as a personal moral choice. Furthermore, the text’s negotiation between Eastern traditions and Western modernity reveals the fluidity of identity in transnational spaces. Ultimately, Honour transcends cultural binaries to depict the human quest for meaning beyond boundaries—geographical, moral, and emotional.
