Corsi di Studio del Dipartimento di Giurisprudenza

Students taking the course should have acquired the basic knowledge of comparative law and have an excellent grasp of the history of legal traditions.

Law and Literature represents one of the most relevant interdisciplinary movements within the University. Drawing on classical and modern literature, movies, poetries, art works and plays, the aims of the course will be to make students more aware about the cultural frameworks which inhabit law studies.

The class aims to promote the development of a critical and interdisciplinary capacity to investigate the styles, narratives, symbology and rhetorical practices surrounding the evolution of legal traditions. Through an in-depth and eclectic look, the course will trace the history and evolution of the Law and Literature movement, from its origins to contemporary developments, highlighting step by step the precious contribution that humanistic knowledge can give to legal scholars. Particular attention will be devoted to the rise of modern legal theory.

The class will have as one of its objectives an enlarged participation of knowledge, moving beyond the fences of a purely positivistic vision of law: the interdisciplinary vocation will therefore be the premise and at the same time the most successful achievement for a newer understanding of the legal phenomenon.

At the end of the course, students shall demonstrate:

- a better understanding of the cultural origins of law;

- deep theoretical insights about the relationship between law and literary studies;

- critical-thinking skills in the fields of jurisprudence and case-law;

- improved awareness of the foundations of legal concepts and comparative methodologies within Western and non Western legal traditions.

After its heyday in the 1970s and 80's, Law and literature has progressively grown including among its aims a concrete educative ambition.

During the lessons, the course will explore the many ways in which scholars have brought law and literary studies into strict conversation, especially distinguishing the "law in literature" and the "law as literature" approaches.

The class will be divided into three main, mutually interconnected sections.

The first will closely investigate the numerous symbolic forms that have studded the concept of Justice throughout Western legal history. Justice is not only a system of laws and courts, but a complicated institutional structure made up of men, powers and roles: a complex machinery where rituals coped with traditions and rational norms defined crimes and punishments.

In the second section we will take a closer look at the relationship, broad and articulated, which combines legal argumentation and rhetorical practice: here, the role of oratory art will be analyzed in light of the importance that it has assumed, from the beginning until now, in the legal formation of lawyers.

In the third, last section, the close reading of some famous Shakespearean works (Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear, Richard II, Romeo and Juliet) will serve as a place of synthesis to verify the rise of the modern legal tradition in the mutual intersection of literature, political theories, and artistic forms.

Face-to-face lessons.

Dear students,

please remember to enroll clicking on the icon "Registrati al Corso" (Enroll me) and accessing the Moodle page ("Vai a Moodle") where you will find week after week all didactic material concerning the class of Law and Literature (a.y. 2023-2024).

For attending students: paperwork of 6,000 words regarding one of the topics covered during the course. The final term paper must be structured according to the "Five-Paragraph Essay" format (Introduction; Paragraph 1; Paragraph 2; Paragraph 3; Conclusion). References must be indicated according to the APA Style.

For non-attending students: written exam with open-ended questions [only in person!].

Not available.

For non attending students:

• G. Minda, Postmodern Legal Movements: Law and Jurisprudence at Century's End (New York University Press, 1995).

The book can be easily downloaded from the JSTOR platform by clicking on this link.