ALTERNATIVE KINSHIP AND CULTURAL RESISTANCE: A CRITICAL STUDY OF ELIF SHAFAK’S HONOR THROUGH DONNA HARAWAY’S THEORY OF KINSHIP

Abstract

Elif Shafak’s Honor (2012) offers a subtle narrative that questions notions of family, gender, and cultural identity within a transnational context of Turkey and London. The current study aims to explore how Shafak’s novel portrays alternative kinship as a form of cultural resilience against patriarchal norms, honor-based violence and rigid communal structures. Through the analyses of the central characters of the novels like Pembe, Jamila, Adam and Iskender and their relationships, the study focuses on highlighting how these alternative structures challenges traditional definitions of family, honour and redefines the notion of belonging beyond blood ties. Anchored in Donna Haraway’s theory of kinship (2011), the paper argues that Shafak’s narrative constructs a counter-discursive space where choice, empathy and agency undermine oppressive cultural practices. In doing so, Shafak’s Honor (2012) contributes to broader discussions on identity formation, agency and resistance in the contemporary migratory fiction. The study employs a qualitative methodology with a close textual analysis of the novel to highlight instances of resistance and transformation. The paper contributes to feminist and diaspora literature by offering new insights into how Honor (2012) redefines kinship beyond patriarchal constraints. The researchers emphasises the novel’s significance in reimagining kinship as a site for cultural resistance and the redefinition of familial belonging in the contemporary migrant fiction. The study point out that these redefined kinship structures function as a form of cultural resistance that empowers characters like Pembe to disrupt established oppressive cultural norms. Eventually, the paper demonstrates how Shafak’s Honor (2012) offers a novel perspective on kinship and skilfully highlights emotional and chosen relationships as alternative as well as transformative forces that reimagines the concept of  family, identity and belonging