Resumen

RINCON RUBIO, Luis. Honor and Identity in Maracaibo at the end of the Nineteenth Century. Opcion [online]. 2007, vol.23, n.52, pp.25-44. ISSN 1012-1587.

We present in this paper the first results of on-going research aimed at studying the cultural representations that shaped the concept and practices related to feminine honor in the city of Maracaibo an the end of the XIX^th century, considering the same as a privileged means to achieve a deeper understanding of this society. From the theoretical and methodological points of view, honor is approached as a notion related to both collective identities and personal identity, through the analysis of a series of lawsuits dealing with promises of marriage kept at the Civil Registrars Office in Zulia State. It was found that honor was an important element in the construction of personal identity and in social differentiation, incarnating a sense of virtue and a sense of social reputation. We conclude that the Maracaibo residents involved in the cases studies seemed to share the symbolic codes expressed in the official discourse of cultural unity and national identity, addressed at “regenerating” the Venezuelan society and at protecting the family as the basis of society, making the honor-virtue of women, particularly their sexual honor, the moral foundation of the family.

Palabras clave : Identity; honor; women; cultural representation; Maracaibo.