Chi perdona è più coraggioso di chi uccide. Un’interpretazione antropologica delle faide di sangue del Kanun, nell’Albania contemporanea.

The essay examines the Kanun, the Albanian customary code of honor, focusing on the relationship between honor and blood feuds (gjakmarrje). In particular, it analyzes the consequences of the re-emergence of this phenomenon in post-communist Albania. The practice of blood feuds forces families at risk of revenge into domestic self-imposed confinement, a sort of “social death,” which also involves minors. However, the code provides for besa (forgiveness/truce), which could become a valid cultural tool for ending all blood feuds related to the Kanun.