Credit Points 10

Legacy Code 102416

Coordinator Christopher Conti Opens in new window

Description This subject explores the common origin of law and literature in rhetoric, narrative, interpretation, and culture. Students will study literary representations of justice, violence and morality and explore an interpretive understanding of the law. Core subject texts will usually be drawn from 19th century world literature to the present, though Film and Television texts may also be selected for analysis.

School Humanities & Comm Arts

Discipline Literature

Student Contribution Band HECS Band 1 10cp

Check your HECS Band contribution amount via the Fees page.

Level Undergraduate Level 3 subject

Restrictions

Successful completion of 60 credit points of study in currently enrolled program.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this subject, students should be able to:

1. Explore the diverse representations of the law in literature.
2. Investigate the different ways law and literature address moral questions.
3. Demonstrate the usefulness of literary studies and close reading to an understanding of law.
4. Examine the idea of literature as critique of law.

Subject Content

Topics include but are not limited to:

• The experience of law in everyday life
• The cultural origins of the rule of law
• Law, narrative and race in post-Mabo Australia
• Law and ecological crisis
• The crisis of sovereignty in modernity
• The relation between legal discourse, literary discourse, and human rights
• The politics and aesthetics of Holocaust representation
• The critical and interdisciplinary implications of law and literature study