DDRO 1790A – Elective
Law and Litterature
(Semester : Spring 2014-2015)
Number of hours : 24
Language of tuition : English
Pre-requisite : aucun
Course Description
What is Law and Literature? An interdisciplinary movement, or a pedagogical tool, which attempts to make connections between law and literature, in order to give law value and meaning in a wider cultural context. This course will cover two major strands: a) Law in Literature and b) Law as Literature. The first line of enquiry, described as humanistic, focuses on the human condition as revealed in literature and purports to open up legal reasoning to emotional and intuitive capacities. The second, described as hermeneutical, also contains a philosophical dimension: it focuses on understanding legal texts with reference to methods of literary critique, analysis and interpretation. This interactive seminar will practise and use both these devices, with the ultimate aim of evaluating the impact of the Law and Literature movement, as a pedagogical tool, on legal scholarship and as a method to legal interpretation.
Teachers
To be defined
Course validation
1) Making an oral presentation of a paper you have read and analysed critically, as well as being evaluated on your class participation (40%). 2) Writing a review or summary of a novel or play of your choice relating to law in literature (20%). 3) Interpreting or writing a judicial opinion (40%).
Required reading
J.H. Wigmore, ‘A List of One Hundred Legal Novels’, reprinted in 17 Ill. L. R. 26 1922-1923
B. Cardozo, ‘Law and Literature’, reprinted in 48 Yale L. J. 489 1938-1939
J. Boyd White, ‘Law and Literature. No Manifesto’ 39 Mercer L. Rev. 739 1987-1988
http://formation.sciences-po.fr/enseignement/2014/ddro/1705a
Sciences Po
27 rue Saint-Guillaume
75337 Paris Cedex 07
Tel. : 01 45 49 50 50
Fax. : 01 42 22 31 26
