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Legal Narratives (AE_PSLGLN)- Lecturer
- Dr. Susanne Gruß
- Details
- Proseminar
2 cred.h, Sprache Englisch
Time and place: Tue 16:15 - 17:45, C 301
- Prerequisites / Organisational information
- gemäß Prüfungsordnung
Scheinerwerb: Hausarbeit
Please note that there will be no class on 24 April and 03 July. We will make up for these sessions with an extra meeting on Saturday, 05 May. Students attending this course should make sure that they can attend on the specified Saturday.
- Contents
- The law does not have a good reputation in literary texts... more often than not, it is based on dry facts not accessible to those ignorant of legal language and the intricacies of the legal system, and lawyers and judges (often depicted as arrogant and dishonest) can bend the law according to their will. And yet, ‘law and literature’ as an interdisciplinary project has been thriving since its inception at US-American law schools in the 1970s. In this seminar, we will explore the English legal system and the interdependence of law and literature as closely linked fields. Using case studies from contemporary fiction to the early modern period, we will analyse how legal norms are reflected (or subverted) in literature’s engagement with questions of law and justice. Topics will include the potential conflicts of law, religion and ethics (Ian McEwan, The Children Act), divorce law and social criticism (Charles Dickens, Hard Times), the ‘Gothic’ establishment of the English constitution (Horace Walpole, The Castle of Otranto), and justice and/vs. mercy (William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure). Literary analyses will be supplemented by theoretical and historical sessions.
- Recommended literature
- Please note that attending this course entails a comparatively heavy reading load – students are therefore expected to start reading during the semester break. Apart from the primary texts, you will have to read some historical and theoretical material. More information will be available on my website – http://www.susannegruss.de/seminare.html – by mid-March.
Reading:
(1) Ian McEwan, The Children Act (2014) (any edition)
(2) Charles Dickens, Hard Times (1854) (Norton critical edition – no other edition will do!)
(3) Horace Walpole, The Castle of Otranto (1764) (any edition)
(4) William Blackstone, “The Lawyer’s Farewell to His Muse” (1744)
(5) William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure (1604) (Arden edition – no other edition will do!)
Other mandatory reading will be provided via StudOn by the beginning of the semester.
recommended literature:
Kieran Dolin, A Critical Introduction to Law and Literature. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.
- Additional information
- Maximale Teilnehmerzahl: 20
Registration is required for this lecture.
Registration starts on Monday, 19.3.2018, 19:00 and lasts till Saturday, 31.3.2018, 23:59 über: mein Campus.
- Department: Chair of English Literature (Prof. Dr. Freiburg)
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