Great Trials and the Law in the Historical Imagination: A Law and Humanities Approach PDF
Preview Great Trials and the Law in the Historical Imagination: A Law and Humanities Approach
Great Trials and the Law in the Historical Imagination Great Trials and the Law in the Historical Imagination: A Law and Humanities Approach introduces readers to the history of law and issues in historical, legal, and artistic interpretation by examining six well-known historical trials through works of art that portray them. Great Trials provides readers with an accessible, non-dogmatic introduction to the interdisciplinary ‘law and humanities’ approach to law, legal history, and legal interpretation. By examining how six famous/notorious trials in Western history have been portrayed in six major works of art, the book shows how issues of legal, historical, and artistic interpretation can become intertwined: the different ways we embed law in narrative, how we bring conscious and subconscious conceptions of history to our interpretation of law, and how aesthetic predilections and moral commitments to the law may influence our views of history. The book studies well-known depictions of the trials of Socrates, Cicero, Jesus, Thomas More, the Salem ‘witches,’ and John Scopes and provides innovative analyses of those works. The epilogue examines how historical methodology and historical imagination are crucial to both our understanding of the law and our aesthetic choices through various readings of Harper Lee’s beloved character, Atticus Finch. The first book to employ a ‘law and humanities’ approach to delve into the institution of the trial and what it means in different legal systems at different historical times, this book will appeal to academics, students, and others with interests in legal history, law and popular culture, and law and the humanities. Russell L. Dees teaches law at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. He holds a J.D. from the University of California at Berkeley and a Ph.D. from the Claremont Graduate University. Great Trials and the Law in the Historical Imagination A Law and Humanities Approach Russell L. Dees First published 2023 by Routledge 4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2023 Russell L. Dees The right of Russell L. Dees to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Dees, Russell L., author. Title: Great trials and the law in the historical imagination: a law and humanities approach/Russell L. Dees. Description: Abingdon, Oxon; New York: Routledge, 2023. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2022005669 (print) | LCCN 2022005670 (ebook) | ISBN 9781032299952 (hardback) | ISBN 9781032299969 (paperback) | ISBN 9781003302971 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Law in literature. | Law and literature. | Literature–History and criticism. Classification: LCC PN56.L33 D44 2023 (print) | LCC PN56.L33 (ebook) | DDC 809/.933554–dc23/eng/20220518 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022005669 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022005670 ISBN: 978-1-032-29995-2 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-032-29996-9 (pbk) ISBN: 978-1-003-30297-1 (ebk) DOI: 10.4324/9781003302971 Typeset in Bembo by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India To my daughters Contents Acknowledgements ix Introduction 1 PART I Ancients 15 1 The Trial of Socrates (399 B.C.E.): Democracy and Truth in the Apology 17 2 Cicero and the Trial of Gaius Verres (70 B.C.E.): ‘Civic Corruption,’ the Rule of Law, and the Analogy of Republican Rome 33 3 The Trial of Jesus (30/33 C.E.): Law, Narrative, and Nomos in the Gospel according to Mark 56 PART II Moderns 75 4 The Trial of Thomas More (1535): Authentic Selfhood and Procedural Law in A Man for All Seasons 77 5 The Salem Witch Trials (1692): The Tragedy of Law in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible 96 viii Contents 6 The Great Monkey Trial (1925): Historical ‘Memory’ and the ‘Politics of Eternity’ 113 Epilogue: The Vicissitudes of a Fictional Character: Time, Atticus Finch, and Constitutional Evil 137 Appendix 1 Summary of Historical Background and New Testament Source Differences 155 Appendix 2 Procedural Issues in the Trial of Thomas More 162 Appendix 3 A Digression on Evolution and Religion 170 Index 175 Acknowledgements I stand indebted to the many friends on whom I’ve inflicted earlier drafts of this book, all of whom have borne the burden good-naturedly. First and fore- most, I must thank Ditlev Tamm, whose wit and erudition made teaching the course on which this book is based such a joy. I also want to thank our students, whose curiosity and enthusiasm was such an inspiration. For their patient and invaluable comments, I thank Richard Dees, Dan Hardt, Maria Beisheim, Karen-Margrethe Simonsen, and Helle Porsdam.
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