The “Kingston Mills Murder” and the Construction of “Honour Killings” in Canadian News Media

Authors

  • Corinne L. Mason Brandon University

Keywords:

Honour Killing, Media, Violence against Women, Gender Representations

Abstract

Abstract
In this article, I examine print media coverage of the 2009 “Kingston Mills Murder” case and how this enactment of patriarchal violence was interpreted though a cultural lens as “honour killings.” I also focus on how feminist and gender “experts,” in statements to the news media, interpreted the murders as the consequence of a “clash of civilizations.” Drawing on the work of Chandra T. Mohanty (2003), I argue that it essential that Western feminisms decolonize discursive constructions of the “Other” in order to create and sustain “communities of resistance” to patriarchal violence. By investigating this case, I also seek to provide a road map for imagining an alternative feminist response to “honour killings” based on Sherene Razack’s (1998) interlocking analysis.

Résumé
Dans cet article, j’examine la couverture dans la presse écrite du cas des meurtres de « Kingston Mills » en 2009, et la façon dont cet acte de violence patriarcale a été interprété d’un point de vue culturel comme un « crime d’honneur ». Je mets aussi l’accent sur la façon dont les « experts » en matière de féminisme et de genre, dans leurs entrevues avec les médias, ont interprété les meurtres comme étant des conséquences du « choc des civilisations ». Misant sur le travail de Chandra T. Mohanty (2003), je fais valoir qu’il est essentiel pour les féministes occidentaux de décoloniser les constructions discursives de « l’autre » afin de créer et de maintenir des « communautés de résistance » à la violence patriarcale. En faisant enquête sur ce cas, je cherche également à fournir une carte routière permettant d’imaginer une intervention féministe différente par rapport aux « crimes d’honneur », basée sur l’analyse intersectionnelle de Sherene Razack (1998).
    

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Author Biography

Corinne L. Mason, Brandon University

Assistant Professor

Gender and Women's Studies, Sociology

References

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Published

2015-09-30