
The Mirror of Justice
Literary Reflections of Legal Crises
Theodore Ziolkowski(Author)
Princeton University Press
Published on 22. April 1997
Book
Hardback
336 pages
978-0-691-02683-1 (ISBN)
Description
This text studies major works of literature from classical antiquity to the present that reflect crises in the evolution of Western law: the move from a prelegal to a legal society in "The Eumenides"; the Christianization of Germanic law in "Njal's Saga"; the disenchantment with medieval customary law in "Reynard The Fox"; the reception of Roman law in a variety of Renaissance texts; the conflict between law and equity in "Antigone" and "The Merchant of Venice"; the 18th-century codification controversy in the works of Kleist; the modern debate between "pure" and "free" law in Kafka's "The Trial" and other fin-de-siecle works; and the effects of totalitarianism, the theory of universal guilt and anarchism in the 20th century. Using principles from the anthropological theory of legal evolution, the book locates the works in their legal contexts and traces them through the gradual dissociation over the centuries of law and morality. It thereby associates and illuminates these masterpieces from an original point of view.
Reviews / Votes
"Winner of the 1998 Christian Gauss Award, Phi Beta Kappa" "An incisive and useful study. . . . Theodore Ziolkowski has brought his broad interdisciplinary knowledge and discerning critical skills to [this] wide-ranging study."---Robert Hauptman, World Literature Today "A sweeping and intriguing handbook of law, literature, and history."---Robert F. Barsky, Literary Research/Recherche Litteraire "Informed and original. . . . This challenging and engaging study has much to offer scholars, teachers, and students." * Choice *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New Jersey
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Trade binding
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Weight
680 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-691-02683-1 (9780691026831)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
11/2018
1st Edition
Princeton University Press
€62.49
Available for download
Person
Theodore Ziolkowski is Class of 1900 Professor of German and Comparative Literature at Princeton University. He has published ten previous books with Princeton University Press, including The View from the Tower and The Sin of Knowledge.