Men and Violence: Gender, Honor, and Rituals in Modern Europe and America

Petrus Cornelis Spierenburg

Ohio State University Press, 1998 - Social Science - 279 pages

There is growing interest in the history of masculinity and male culture, including violence, as an integral part of a proper understanding of gender. In almost every historical setting, masculinity and violence are closely linked; certainly, violent crime has been overwhelmingly a male enterprise. But violence is not always criminal: in many cultural contexts violence is linked instead to honor and encoded in rituals. We possess only an imperfect understanding of the ways in which aggressive behavior, or the abstention from aggressive behavior, contributes to the construction of masculinity and male honor. In this collection, internationally renowned expert Pieter Spierenburg brings together eight scholars to explore the fascinating interrelationship of masculinity, honor, and the body.

Contents

• Male Violence: 37
• Dueling Honor and Politics in Liberal Italy: 64
• The End of the Modern French Duel: 82
• Knife Fighting and Popular Codes of Honor: 103
• Homicide and Knife Fighting in Rome 18451914: 128
• Violent Firemen in the NineteenthCentury: 159
• The Victorian Criminalization of Men: 197
• Lynching: 213
• References: 255
• Contributors: 275

Bibliographic information

• Title: Men and Violence: Gender, Honor, and Rituals in Modern Europe and America; The History of crime and criminal justice series
• Editor: Petrus Cornelis Spierenburg
• Contributor: Petrus Cornelis Spierenburg
• Publisher: Ohio State University Press, 1998
• ISBN: 0814207529, 9780814207529
• Length: 279 pages
• Subjects: History / Europe / Western; History / United States / General; Social Science / Men's Studies; Social Science / Sociology / General