Dale Barleben
Staging the Trials of Modernism and the
British Modern Literary Consciousness
Ontario: University of Toronto Press, 2017, 184 pp.
ISBN:9781487501075
In Staging the Trials of Modernism, Dale Barleben explores the
interactions among literature, cultural studies, and the law through detailed
analyses of select British modern writers including Oscar Wilde, Joseph Conrad,
Ford Madox Ford, and James Joyce. By tracing the relationships between the
literature, authors, media, and judicial procedure of the time, Barleben
illuminates the somewhat macabre element of modern British trial process, which
still enacts and re-enacts itself throughout contemporary judicial systems of
the British Commonwealth. Using little seen legal documents, like Ford’s
contempt trial decision, Staging the Trials of Modernism uncovers the
conversations between the interior style of British Modern authors and the ways
in which law began rethinking concepts like intent and the subconscious. Barleben’s
fresh insights offer a nuanced look into the ways in which law influences
literary production.
Dale Barlebenis Assistant Professor of Law and Literature at John Jay College, City
University of New York
