Meaning and Power in the Language of Law

Erscheinungsjahr 2020
ISBN: 978-1-107-53315-8
Verlag: Cambridge University Press

Buch, Englisch, 344 Seiten, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm, Gewicht: 463 g

Legal practitioners, linguists, anthropologists, philosophers and others have all explored fundamental challenges presented by language in formulating, interpreting and applying laws. Building on centuries of interaction between legal practice and jurisprudence, the modern field of 'law and language', or 'forensic linguistics', brings insights in linguistics and related fields to bear on topics including legal drafting and translation, statutory interpretation, expert evidence on language use and dynamics of courtroom interaction. This volume presents an interlocking series of research studies engaged with different legal jurisdictions and socio-political contexts as well as with the more abstract notion of 'law'. Together the chapters, written by international leaders in their fields, highlight recent directions in research and investigate in particular how law expresses yet also conceals power relations in its crafted use of words and in the gaps and silence between those words.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Leung, Janny H C

Durant, Alan

Fachgebiete

• Rechtswissenschaften Recht, Rechtswissenschaft Allgemein
• Geisteswissenschaften Sprachwissenschaft Übersetzungswissenschaft, Translatologie, Dolmetschen
• Geisteswissenschaften Sprachwissenschaft Psycholinguistik, Neurolinguistik, Kognition
• Geisteswissenschaften Sprachwissenschaft Semantik & Pragmatik

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Editors' Introduction Janny H. C. Leung and Alan Durant; Part I. Sui generis or Socially Problematic: The Character of Legal Language: 1. The unspoken language of the law Laura Nader; 2. Seeing sense: the complexity of key words that tell us what law is Alan Durant; 3. Hiding in plain sight: the category of ordinary language and the case law domain of transgender marriage Christopher Hutton; Part II. Imperfect Fit between Legal Categories and Social Discourse: 4. Effects of translation on the invisible power wielded by language in the legal sphere: the case of Nepal Katsuo Nawa; 5. The language of film and the representation of legal subjectivity in Juno Mak's Rigor Mortis Marco Wan; Part III. Written in Silence: Hidden Social Meanings in Legal Discourse: 6. Let the fingers do the talking: language, gesture and power in closing argument Greg Matoesian and Kristin Enola Gilbert; 7. Questions about questioning: courtroom practice in China and the USA Meizhen Liao; 8. Law, language and community sentiment: behind hate speech doctrine in India Siddharth Narrain; Part IV. Conflict between Linguistic and Legal ideologies: 9. When voices fail to carry: voice projection and the case of the 'dumb' jury Chris Heffer; 10. Ideology and political meaning in legal translation Janny H. C. Leung; Part V. Demands of Law and Limits of Language: 11. Law and the grammar of judgment Janet Ainsworth; 12. Legal indeterminacy in the spoken word Lawrence M. Solan and Silvia Dahmen; Afterword: 13. The said of the unsaid Peter Goodrich.

Über Autor(innen)

Leung, Janny H C
Janny H. C. Leung is Associate Professor of English at the University of Hong Kong. Her main research interest lies in interdisciplinary work between language and law, with a particular focus on bilingual and multilingual jurisdictions. Her recent books include Language and Law: A Resource Book for Students (2016), co-authored with Alan Durant, and a forthcoming monograph on multilingual jurisdictions.

Durant, Alan
Alan Durant is Professor of Communication in the School of Law at Middlesex University, London. His recent books include Language and Law: A Resource Book for Students (2016), co-authored with Janny H. C. Leung, Language and Media: A Resource Book for Students (2009), co-authored with Marina Lambrou, and Meaning in the Media: Discourse, Controversy and Debate (Cambridge, 2010).