Publication details
Legal Performance: Translating into Law and Subjectivity in Law
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2017 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Tilburg Law Review |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Web | Repozitář MU |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/22112596-02201004 |
| Field | Law sciences |
| Keywords | legal language; legal performance; translation into law; Lacan; subjectivity; legal ritual |
| Attached files | |
| Description | Legal language seems to maintain a level of incomprehensibility that creates a barrier, beyond which something is happening: a dispute is resolved, a matter of guilt is ascertained, or a life is taken. This paper tackles a trial (in the sense of any type of legal proceeding before a judge) as a performance of justice; one that, not unlike a magical ritual or ritual theater, happens beyond a certain kind of barrier and is fully accessible only to those duly consecrated. It will be argued that legal language may be understood as such a barrier and the role and status of those who do not master it (i.e. understand law and its concepts) are comparable to those of an audience in a performance. Consequently, this paper will show how understanding the role of this barrier in a performance may help us explore the accessibility of law to the layperson and her subjectivity (in the psychoanalytical sense) within law. |