When Law Goes Pop: The Vanishing Line between Law and Popular Culture / Edition 1

by Richard K. Sherwin

Overview

The past few decades have seen the legal system entering American popular culture like never before, from the media blitzes surrounding high-profile trials to the countless television programs in which judges rule on everyday disputes. What, if anything, does this mean for the legal system itself? According to Richard K. Sherwin, it is a dangerous development—one that threatens to turn law into spectacle, undermining public confidence as legal style and logic begin to resemble advertising and public relations.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780226752921
Publisher:	University of Chicago Press
Publication date:	04/15/2002
Edition description:	1
Pages:	332
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Richard K. Sherwin is a professor of law at New York Law School.

Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments
1. Introduction: Law in the Age of Images
2. Screening Reality: The Vanishing Line between Law and Popular Culture
3. Legal Storytelling: Culture's Tools for Making Meaning
4. The Law of Desire: Cultural History and the Notorious Case
5. The Postmodern Challenge: A Case Study
6. The Jurisprudence of Appearances: Law as Commodity
7. When Law Goes Pop: Strange Forces, Trauma, and Catharsis
8. Law's Need for Enchantment: Perils and Possibilities
9. Conclusion: Redrawing the Line between Belief and Suspicion
Notes
Index