In front of the Great Machine of the Law

  • Remo Ceserani University of Bologna
Keywords: Literature, Law, Trial, Protagonists, Metaphors,

Abstract

Literature and its representations of the legal world.Remarkable differences between the administration of the  law in countries that follow the tradition of the Roman law and those that operate according to Anglo-Saxon customs. The protagonists of the court-room drama:  the defendant, the prosecutor, the lawyers, the testifiers, the expert witness, the judge, the jurors, the audience. The machine of the law, its functioning, the atmosphere of the court in their metaphorical representations in literary texts. The frequent difficulty experienced by defendants and audience to understand the machinery of the law. Examples from many literary and filmic texts, from the Book of Job to the novels by Grisham.

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Author Biography

Remo Ceserani, University of Bologna

Remo Ceserani has been professor of Comparative literature in the University of Bologna until November 2006. In the following years he has taught courses as visiting professor at ETH Zurich, São Paulo, and Stanford.  He has written manuals and introductions to literary studies and books on trains in literature, on the fantastic, on modernity and  postmodernity, on the figure of the foreigner in the European tradition. Among his recent books: Convergenze, on the relationship between literature and the other disciplines (Milan, Mondadori-Pearson, 2010),  L’occhiodella Medusa on photography and literature (Turin, Bollati-Boringhieri, 2011), and Letteraturanell’etàglobale (Bologna, Il Mulino, 2012, with GiulianaBenvenuti). Forthcoming a book on literature and ethology (with DaniloMainardi).He hasedited, with Mario Domenichelli and Pino Fasano, a three-volumesDizionario dei temi letterari (Torino, UTET, 2007). Recent interviews have appeared in the journals «Studiculturali», «Italian studies», «L’immaginazione», «Transpostcross», «Romance Sphere».

Web-site: www.ceserani.com.

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Filmografia

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Published
2012-06-04
How to Cite
Ceserani, R. (2012). In front of the Great Machine of the Law. Between, 2(3). https://doi.org/10.13125/2039-6597/534
Section
Before the Law: an Introduction