JUFN26 LAW AND LITERATURE
SPRING 2015
Guidelines for the final paper
The final paper of the course is a research-based analytic paper of 15-25 pages, double-spaced, on a
topic to be chosen by the student in consultation with the instructor.
The paper must address both law and literature, and must include a research component.
However, the proportion of legal research to literary research and of legal analysis to literary analysis
may vary according to the student’s interests and the topic chosen.
For instance, here are a few examples of possible paper structures.
1. A “law-heavy” stucture.
Choose a legal topic that you wish to explore in some depth. Then choose a piece of
literature, either from the course readings or not, that illuminates or otherwise is relevant to
your legal issue. I can help you to identify some texts that might relate to your legal
interests.
a. Briefly present the chosen literary text(s), analyzing the form and content, and
perhaps also including some, but not much, research into how critics or scholars
have approached the work.
b. Devote the largest part of the paper to research and analysis concerning the chosen
legal topic, eg. the state of the law, the core conceptual issues, practical issues
related to implementation, etc.
c. Offer a final analytic section that relates the legal research to the selected literary
work.
2. A “literature-heavy” structure. Choose one or more literary texts that illuminate or are
otherwise relevant to a legal topic of interest to you. I can help you either to find the text,
or identify a related legal topic, or both.
a. Briefly set out the legal topic, providing a sense of the relevant law and relevant
conceptual or practical questions involved.
b. Devote the largest part of the paper to research and analysis concerning the chosen
literary text(s): eg. their historical context, how they have been understood by
critics or scholars, their role in social development, etc
c. Offer a final analytic section that relates the literary research to the selected legal
issue.
3. A combination structure. A paper along the lines above that devotes equal time, space,
research and analysis to both the literary text(s) and the legal topic.
4. A “law-and-literature-as-field” structure.
Draw on the theoretical readings in the course and/or the course discussions to identify an
aspect of law and literature that interests you theoretically, eg. “law as literature,” “the role
of narrative in highlighting critical approaches to law,” etc . (I can help you to determine an
aspect that would make for a rich and interesting research paper.) Conduct research into
the different approaches taken by scholars working in this aspect of law and literature and
offer analysis of the value of those approaches, eg. to legal education, scholarship or
practice.
Note that these models are just to spark your thinking. Please feel free to propose other approaches.
Process
We will hold individual meetings to finalize paper topics starting in the 3rd week of the course.
We will hold individual meetings on the paper during the 7th week to touch base on any questions or
to brainstorm further research resources, etc. Everyone is highly encouraged to submit a draft
outline of the paper at this stage for comments.
During the 8th and 9th weeks, everyone will present an aspect of his or her paper to the class as a
stimulus to discussion.
The paper itself is due on Friday, March 21 at 5 PM. Please submit it in via email to Hans Liepack at
Hans.Liepack@jur.lu.se. The paper should be double-spaced.