Suicidal performances: Voicing discontent in a girl’s dormitory in Kabul.

Female suicide in Afghanistan has generally been given economic and psychological explanations. More rarely has its social dimension been analysed. In this paper, I underline the communicative potential of Afghan womenÕs suicide in the Ôpost-war/reconstructionÕ context. I highlight its ambiguous symbolic power and its anchorage in the subversive imaginary universe of womenÕs poetic expression. I argue that while reproducing certain cultural ideas about womenÕs inherent emotional fragility, womenÕs suicide also challenges the honour system in powerful ways and opens possibilities for voicing discontent. I qualify female suicide as the Ôart of the weakÕ (De Certeau 1980, 6), a covert form of protest, a performance, in the sense of Bauman (2004), that builds upon traditional popular ÔknowledgeÕ about gender in order to manage the impression of an audience and make womenÕs claims audible.