Disturbing the Undisturbed: Precedents in Law & Literature

“stare decisis et non quieta movere” (let sleeping dogs lie) All aspects of literary style, provenance and interpretation elicit judgments of adequacy and commensurability, especially when they treat situations that are unfair or incommensurable. From the modest “mot juste” – the word perfectly suited to its task – to the greatest moral claims – such as justifying the ways of God to man – the scales and the sword, the precision and the force of justice are at issue. This paper offers one approach to literary justice. It studies how appealing to precedents illustrates the convergence and divergence of literary and legal judgments: two co-operating but competing forms of judiciousness, two ways of maintaining a jurisdiction, of summoning or flouting authority, and of conjuring the unprecedented. This event is free and open to the public. All are welcome.

Location:

Social Sciences 1153

Speaker:

Dr. Jon Kertzer – Department of English, University of Calgary

More information at http://www.ucalgary.ca/events/calendar/disturbing-undisturbed-precedents-law-literature