Edit in JSFiddle

var MyView = Backbone.View.extend({
    sayHi: function () {console.log('hi');}, 
    render: function () {
        this.$el.html('<button>sayHi</button>');
        $('body').append(this.el);
    },
    initialize:function(){this.render();}
});

var myViewInstance = new MyView(); //create view
myViewInstance.events = {'click button':'sayHi'}; //set events object

//have to call delegateEvents because we setup the events after the view was created
myViewInstance.delegateEvents();
//Now the events should work, can call undelegatedEvents to remove

<div id="myView"></div>