Windows and 'Windows': Reflections on Law and Literature in the Digital Age

Abstract

The paper begins by positing a paradigm of literature alongside law that delineates a theoretical framework for addressing the interrelationships between law and literature. The notions of poetic justice and poetic license are then put forward as complementary themes, illustrating the interplay between law and literature. After establishing the need for the poetic enterprise in general, the paper will present authors who underline the importance of specific literary genres, concluding that the form of the narrative as such, not its particular genre, is the most powerful means of instilling a sense of self as well as attentiveness to the other. At this point, there will be made some remarks about the future of narrative in a digital environment, maintaining that the digital age challenges the production of meaningful representations within the legal domain as well as within the literary one, and that the notions of poetic justice and poetic license can help both fields to face these challenges successfully.

Keywords: law and literature, law in digital age, windows, literatue alongside law