Abstract

Drawing upon the tenets of rural criminology and set against the rich backdrop of the novel Kelidar, this study aims to answer the question posed in the epigraph. It seeks to demonstrate the discourses that contribute to the formation and justification of these crimes. To this end, the novel’s text is analyzed using Laclau and Mouffe’s method of discourse analysis. The research findings reveal that two main discourses concerning rural crime are identifiable in the work: the discourse of tribal tradition and the discourse of rural livelihood. In the discourse of tribal tradition, the hegemony of tribal customs and norms provides the groundwork for the formation and legitimization of certain criminal behaviors, including honor killings, personal revenge, the abduction of girls, and violence against women. In the discourse of rural livelihood, which forms in the context of the landlord-peasant system, villagers are marginalized, and economic constraints drive them to commit certain financial crimes aimed at securing basic subsistence needs. Furthermore, economic pressures and phenomena such as drought and livestock mortality create the conditions for villagers to engage in activities like drug trafficking. The study concludes that in the novel Kelidar, rural crimes, rather than stemming from individual inclinations, are shaped and find their meaning within the cultural and economic structures of the rural society.