The Law's Jouissance in Miéville's 'The City & The City'

Law, Culture, and the Humanities, 2011

13 Pages Posted: 22 Apr 2011

See all articles by Daniel Hourigan

Daniel Hourigan

Griffith University - Socio-Legal Research Centre

Date Written: November 1, 2011

Abstract

This paper critically examines the construction of law in China Miéville’s weird detective narrative, 'The City & The City' (2009). The discussion charts the excesses of law’s embodiment in Detective Tyador Borlú of the Besźel policzai with and against the primordial natural law discourse of the Law of Breach, and carefully examines the ways that this Law interdicts the common law in both parts of the fictional split city Besźel-Ul Qoma. Using the psychoanalytic concept of jouissance, this paper unveils some of the modulations of authority presented by the novel’s unusual arrangement of politics, common law, and natural law.

Keywords: China Miéville, The City & The City, Jouissance, Jacques Lacan, Law and Culture, Psychoanalytic Philosophy

Suggested Citation

Hourigan, Daniel, The Law's Jouissance in Miéville's 'The City & The City' (November 1, 2011). Law, Culture, and the Humanities, 2011, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1817107

Daniel Hourigan (Contact Author)

Griffith University - Socio-Legal Research Centre ( email )

Australia
+61 7 37354285 (Phone)

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
157
Abstract Views
728
Rank
339,776
PlumX Metrics