Law And Literature: The Construction of me and Other

• Main Author: Gretha Leite Maia
• Format: Article
• Language: Portuguese
• Published: Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Pós-graduação em Direito (CONPEDI) 2015-12-01
• Series: Revista de Direito, Arte e Literatura
• Subjects: Direito, Literatura, Sujeito de Direitos
• Online Access: http://www.indexlaw.org/index.php/revistadireitoarteliteratura/article/view/73

One of the fundamental legal concepts is person as its seem by the law. The aim of this study is to connect the concept of person and the concepts of "me" and "other," and highlight the role of literature in the construction of those concepts. The study starts with the proposal of understanding the law as a system founded on the reciprocity, and it also explores the concepts of otherness and identity. For this part of the research, we brought references established both in manuals of Law and in legal anthropology. After, it presents the literature as a tool to reading and writing the world. It explores the idea that the construction (or invention) of human rights had the participation of engaged literature. In this research, we analyzed two literary works, one in the universal perspective and another in the national perspective: Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo, e Capitães dareia, by Jorge Amado. The study demonstrates that literature contributes to the establishment of person protected by law, expanding the strictly legal conception of what is a "person" in law.