Voice and Silence in Law and Literature Seminar

Participants in this course will explore the legal, literary, and cultural mechanisms that amplify the voices of some speakers, while silencing the voices of others. What are the norms and processes through which legal and literary texts endorse some stories – and their associated justice claims – as true, while discarding others as false? What methodologies – ranging from the legal to the literary to the cultural – may we use to bring into the canon the neglected perspectives of people of color, women, LGBTQ+ folks, and the poor? We’ll explore narrative conventions and cultural norms, as well as legal technologies, that determine whose voices are heard and whose are not. Our texts will be eclectic, including stories, memoirs, poetry, film, music, investigative journalism, legal cases, excerpts from police how-to manuals, and public-welfare assistance forms.