LAW6174 Law Stories

Stories about law abound in our culture. We watch courtroom dramas, police procedurals, and documentaries exposing the inner workings of the justice system on TV. We read true crime books and listen to podcasts, and avidly follow blow-by-blow accounts of the trials of Oscar Pistorius, Amanda Knox, and Elizabeth Holmes. We are interested in popular fiction and non-fiction stories in both written and visual form.

This module asks how such stories affect – both deliberately or inadvertently - public perceptions of law. Some stories are political interventions – like Steve McQueen’s series of Small Axe films (BBC, 2020) or Terry Gilliam’s dystopian film Brazil (1985); other stories have political impact without realizing it – for instance, by sensationalizing and objectifying women accused of murder, or by perpetuating rape myths.

You will learn to analyse these stories using techniques and approaches of narrative analysis. You will draw on work in literary studies, film studies, and media studies in order to become expert readers and viewers of stories. You will learn to analyse how stories are told, as well as what stories are about. You will learn about oppositionism, empathy, sensationalism, the narrator, focalization, and a host of other key concepts.

You will be assessed by way of essay, which will involve making a close reading of a particular law story. You will have the opportunity to practise the technique of close reading during the module and to receive feedback in advance of the summative essay.