The relationship between literature and the study of law has surprised students of Bennett University, Greater Noida, where Elizabeth Anker, associate professor of the department of English, Cornell University is currently teaching a credit course on law, literature and fiction.
Anker who holds a PhD degree in English language and literature from the University of Virginia, as well as a juris doctor (JD) degree from the University of Chicago Law School, believes that literature makes it possible to gain a better understanding and interpretation of law.
Literature Helps Improve Understanding Of Laws
According to Anker, “storytelling and narration” are central to law – for example in cases of trial advocacy and legal opinions – and students are able to get “greater understanding of law’s stories” through the examination of literature and its modes of narration.
Further Anker pointed out that literary critics can be seen as experts at ‘interpretation’ that tackle ambiguous meanings. She also observed that the “toolkit” used by literature scholars deciphering literary texts can also be used “to better interpret legal materials” as well as other specific issues.
As per Anker one of main reasons for many people opting to law and literature together is that they both involve history.
She pointed out that both Literary forms and legal principles have evolved together through “a complex cultural milieu”, and there is better understanding of “the genesis and development” of several legal constructs by gaining an understanding of “how they were adjudicated and fashioned within literature.”
Good Potential for Interdisciplinary Studies
Commenting about her interest in the two fields, Anker noted that Interdisciplinary scholarship and teaching helps ”enhances the expertise of students and its relevance to real-world issues” and also enables one to speak to “diverse audiences”.
She emphasised that Interdisciplinary education can help develop “better citizens and future leaders, and also “more knowledgeable judges and lawyers.”
Anker noted that there was today “a lot of scope” for interested Indian students to enhance their career in law by integrating literature.
In terms of literature featuring law, Arundhati Roy’s ‘The God of Small Things’ and Salman Rushdie’s ‘Midnight’s Children’ are prime examples, Anker said.
Social Justice And Human Rights Links Literature And Law
According to Anker the connection between law and literature is fundamentally about social justice and human rights. She expressed that she has great belief “in the capacity of art and literature to make the world a better place.”
Anker has offered past courses relating to ‘Literature and Human Rights,’ that explore the challenges of contemporary humanitarianism. Furthermore her book entitled ‘Fictions of Dignity: Embodying Human Rights in World Literature’ has explored the relationship between human rights and literature.
In her opinion, Literature can be considered as important form of “political speech”, and that it can be an important part of maintaining “the spirit of democracy”. Having a knowledge of the literature, Anker said, “enhances multiple skills” that are linked with lawyering and also “humanises legal decision-making.”
