Imagined States: Law and Literature in Nigeria 1900-1966 (Edinburgh Critical Studies in Law, Literature and the Humanities)

## Examines representations of the law in colonial and postcolonial fiction from and about Nigeria * Examines representations of the law in British and Nigerian high-brow, middle-brow and popular fiction and journalism between 1900 and 1966 * Draws on rare archives of Nigerian newspaper reports and local government papers from the period * Explores how ethical issues of late colonial and early postcolonial law in Africa were played out in the pages of highly diverse texts * Draws on the political philosophy of Agamben, particularly his interpretation of the state of exception and the homo sacer, to illustrate the paradoxes of the colonial and postcolonial legal systems wittingly and unwittingly uncovered by these texts __Imagined States__ examines representations of the law in British and Nigerian high-brow, middle-brow and popular fiction and journalism. Drawing on a rich range of examples, the book focuses on the imaginative role that the state of exception played in the application of indirect rule during British colonialism and in the legal machinations of the postcolonial state. It reads works by Chinua Achebe, Joyce Cary, Cyprian Ekwensi and Edgar Wallace, together with a range of Nigerian market literature and journalism. A unique application of philosophical hermeneutics, literary theory and narratology to the practice of judging Combining her expertise in legal theory and her judicial practice in criminal law in a Court of Appeal, Jeanne Gaakeer explores the intertwinement of legal theory and practice to develop a humanities-inspired methodology for both the academic interdisciplinary study of law and literature and for legal practice. This volume addresses judgment and interpretation as a central concern within the field of law, literature and humanities. It is not only a study of law as praxis that combines academic legal theory with judicial practice, but proposes both as central to humanistic jurisprudence and as a training in the conduct of public life. Drawing extensively on philosophical and legal scholarship and through analysis of literary works, Gaakeer proposes a perspective on law as part of the humanities that will inspire legal professionals, scholars and advanced students of law alike. Literary case studies include: Gustave Flaubert's Bouvard and P cuchet Robert Musil's The Man without Qualities Dutch poet Gerrit Achterberg's asylum poems Pat Barker's Regeneration John Coetzee's Disgrace Ian McEwan's The Children Act Michel Houellebecq's Atomised Juli Zeh's The Method Combining her expertise in legal theory and her judicial practice in criminal law in a Court of Appeal, Jeanne Gaakeer explores the intertwinement of legal theory and practice to develop a humanities-inspired methodology for both the academic interdisciplinary study of law and literature and for legal practice. This volume addresses judgment and interpretation as a central concern within the field of law, literature and humanities. It is not only a study of law as praxis that combines academic legal theory with judicial practice, but proposes both as central to humanistic jurisprudence and as a training in the conduct of public life. Drawing extensively on philosophical and legal scholarship and through analysis of literary works, Gaakeer proposes a perspective on law as part of the humanities that will inspire legal professionals, scholars and advanced students of law alike.-Back cover Imagined States examines representations of the law in British and Nigerian high-brow, middle-brow and popular fiction and journalism. Drawing on a rich range of examples, the book focuses on the imaginative role that the state of exception played in the application of indirect rule during British colonialism and in the legal machinations of the postcolonial state. Discussion includes works by Chinua Achebe, Joyce Cary, Cyprian Ekwensi and Edgar Wallace, as well as a range of Nigerian market literature and journalism from between 1900 and 1966." From book cover Combining her expertise in legal theory and judicial practice in a continental-European civil-law system, Jeanne Gaakeer explores the intertwinement of legal theory and practice to develop a humanities-inspired methodology for both the academic interdisciplinary study of law and literature and for legal practice An international ensemble of folklore scholars looks at varied ways in which national and ethnic groups have traditionally and creatively used imagined states of existence--some idealizations, some demonizations--in the construction of identities for themselves and for others