Judging from Experience

This fascinating volume examines how far we have come in the law and literature debate and considers the influence of technology in law. Being a judge, Gaakeer interrogates herself on how to judge equitably, setting herself between empathy and objectivity, respect for the human being and the use of the latest tools in legal investigation. – Daniela Carpi, University of VeronaA law-and-literature must! Judging from Experience argues for the centrality of law and literature to the task of speaking justice. Jeanne Gaakeer provides a methodology to law and literature based on her practical experience as a criminal law justice and her extraordinary erudition in legal hermeneutics, philosophy, narratology, and literature. – Greta Olson, University of Giessen, GermanyThis wonderful book—learned, wise, and witty—provides a new and deep foundation, in history and theory alike, for the whole field of law and literature, and especially for its claim that no legal education is complete without the humanistic study of law . Brava! – James Boyd White, University of Michigan

Jeanne Gaakeer is Professor Emerita of Jurisprudence: Hermeneutical and Narrative Foundations, at Erasmus School of Law, Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and retired senior justice at the Court of Appeal, the Hague, the Netherlands.