Edit in JSFiddle

var MyView = Backbone.View.extend({
    initialize:function(){
        this.render();
    },
    render:function(){
        console.log(this.el); //logs <div id="myView">
        return this;
    }
});

//el is an element with an id of #myView in the html document
var myViewInstance = new MyView({el:'#myView'});
<div id="myView"></div>