Faculty Research Fellows Talk with Hèctor Hoyos

Hector Hoyos: "Honor Killing, Virginity, and the Narrativity of the Law in Chronicle of a Death Foretold"

In the masterful 1982 novella Chronicle of Death Foretold, the Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez retells an actual episode where an aggravated newly-wed man “returned” his wife to his family upon “discovering” that she was not a virgin. This leads to an honor killing of the alleged “perpetrator.” Scare quotes aside, what does this work of fiction tell us about the narrativity of the law (per Peter Brooks) when such honor systems are concerned? And what resources does narrative have to undo their deleterious effects? The talk, cognate to a co-authored book manuscript in progress, explores these dilemmas.

Hector Hoyos is Professor of Iberian and Latin American Cultures.

Clayman Faculty Affiliates are welcome to attend the lunch seminars.  All Stanford academics are eligible to become Clayman Institute Faculty Affiliates. Please RSVP to Lea Gottlieb (lgottlie [at] stanford.edu (lgottlie[at]stanford[dot]edu)) if you wish to attend.