The Pukhtunwali Code of Honour (Nang) as a Floating Signifier

Abstract

 This paper examines Pukhtunwali's code of honour (Nang) as a floating signifier — a concept
whose meaning shifts according to context rather than remaining fixed, following Stuart Hall's
theorisation of the term. Drawing on Halvor Moxnes's distinction between ascribed and acquired
honour, the study analyses selected Pukhtun folktales to trace how Nang is constructed, contested,
and gendered. Through tales such as "Ramdad Khan," "Ajab Khan," and "The Bazaar of
Storytellers," the paper shows how honour attaches to Zameen (land) and to Zar (skill), each
generating a distinct, situational definition of what it means to be a true Pukhtun (Nangyalay). The
analysis then turns to the gendering of honour, arguing that Nang (male honour) and Namus
(female honour) operate under entirely different — and unequal — logics: male honour is won
through assertiveness, land, and revenge, while female honour is preserved through purdah,
silence, and sexual restraint. Readings of tales including "The Sin of Pride," "The Gardener's
Daughter," and "The Parrot and the Starling" illustrate how patriarchal norms are naturalised and
enforced within the folk tradition itself. The paper concludes that Pukhtunwali's code of honour
cannot be treated as a stable, monolithic tradition, but must be understood as a fluid discourse
continually reshaped by gender, context, and narrative