Metaphysics of Kanun: “To Move a Boundary Is Like Moving the Bones of the Dead”

Date of Publication:

30.09.2026

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.62800/NR.2026.3.04

Abstract:

The subject of this study is the Code of Lekë Dukagjini (1933), codified by Shtjefën Gjeçovi on the basis of the customary laws of the northern Albanian highlanders. The study proposes a philosophical-hermeneutic framework for interpreting honour as the ethical and metaphysical foundation of the Kanun. Through a systematic reading of its twelve books, the analysis examines the ways in which honour, besa (the given word), kinship, property, boundaries, justice, blood, ritual, and relations with the sacred are interconnected. The study places selected principles of the Kanun in dialogue with ancient legal, philosophical, and religious traditions, particularly the Code of Hammurabi, the Old Testament, and the works of Plato and Aristotle. It argues that customary rules governing everyday social relations are presented not merely as pragmatic regulations but as expressions of a sacral order linking individual conduct, communal morality, and a transcendent conception of justice. In this perspective, honour functions as a principle through which the social and metaphysical dimensions of life are articulated and maintained.

Keywords:

Albanian Customary Law, anthropological analysis, Code of Lekë Dukagjini, philosophical hermeneutics, the concept of honour

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References:

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