CMLT-C 343 LITERATURE AND POLITICS (3 CR.)
The intersection of literature and political issues, the representation of political ideas in literary works, literature's impact on politics and its role in public debate. Time periods, literatures, and civilizations studied will vary.
1 classes found
Spring 2024
Component | Credits | Class | Status | Time | Day | Facility | Instructor |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
LEC | 3 | 30521 | Open | 1:15 p.m.–2:30 p.m. | TR | BH 307 | Johnson J |
Regular Academic Session / In Person
LEC 30521: Total Seats: 30 / Available: 2 / Waitlisted: 0
Lecture (LEC)
- COLL (CASE) A&H Breadth of Inq
- COLL (CASE) A&H Breadth of Inquiry credit
Topic: Legal fictions
Blood for blood, competition in the global marketplace, state-sponsored torture, banned classroom content, stateless societies, the clash of religion and science, civil war¿around the world and across centuries great writers dramatize legal principles through fiction. Although we tend to think of the law as non-fiction by necessity and far removed from creative storytelling, literature explores a wide range of legal issues: trial by jury, conflicting definitions of justice, property rights, the fragility of judges, the power of the law to protect and to victimize, forms of non-violent mediation and reconciliation, hereditary rulership, alternatives to the force of law. Instead of simply distorting legal principles with flights of imagination, creative writers show us the law interacting with the real world of powerful emotions, irrational characters, social crises, raw ambition, and utopian ideals. We will read and discuss five works from five countries ranging from ancient Greece through Renaissance Portugal into twentieth-century South Africa and the US. These works take the forms of stage plays, epic poetry, and the modern novel, offering perspectives and insights you might not get from a law class. Reading list: Aeschylus¿ dramatic trilogy The Oresteia, Luis Vaz de Camões¿ The Lusíads, Shakespeare¿s historical drama Henry the Sixth Part Two, Lawrence and Lee¿s Inherit the Wind, and J.M. Coetzee¿s Waiting for the Barbarians. Workload: two analytical essays about the literature, one case-study of law codes, one presentation on the case-study, short proposals, weekly reading, and in-class participation. No prior knowledge of law codes required. For more information and inquiries: jwjohnso@iu.edu